FEAR Novelization
by DMC Maniac
Summary: A F.E.A.R. Unit is assigned to track down and eliminate a rogue military psychic commander. Soon they figure out that there is more to this than they can possibly imagine...
1. Point of Origin

Here is my very first attempt on writing a novelization of anything. I decided to do one on one of my favorite FPS stories (not that theres a lot of good ones I know about). So hope you all enjoy, read, review, respond, any way you wanna get out what you may think :). Oh yeah, I do not own any material that the games are from. That's what Monolith is for. But boy, do I wish.

Notes:

1. For the first chapter, this is the only one with multiple POV's (point of view). For this reason I will give the names of those that are involved what they in the story. Until I say that the POV has changed, it will keep continuing for that person until it is someone else's "turn." But like I said, it's only for this chapter for now. If there are any differences, I will be sure to put them in.

2. My grammar may seem a bit redundant at times so I apologize, just how my brain works _. Any mistakes I would appreciate them to be pointed out so I can do a better job.

3. The way the story goes is how I would think would be the going the most rational way possible.

4. This story IS both action and horror. So no 100% of either, so I will try and combine the both as best as I can, and try to raise the suspense, both in the gunfights and the scares.

5. Enjoy :D

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><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 01 - INCEPTION**

**POINT OF ORIGIN**

In 2002, the U.S. Army formed a secret unit

dedicated to combating paranormal threats

to national security.

The unit was named

First Encounter Assault Recon

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><p><strong><em>Paxton Fettel<em>**

I see her again. The little girl in red covered in flames. She haunts me in my sleep. She haunts me when I'm awake. Here I sit, alone in my cell, quiet and speechless as when they put me back in here. My only company are the crows that sit by the bars of the window of this lonely prison cell. A feeling of uneasiness creeps through my body. A great fear consumes my body. All I hear is whispering. Whispering of the girl in red as though she is next to me. But from all the words she tried to get through to me, all I can understand from her is this:

"Kill them."

Those words shook me to my very bones. It was just as before, only the words were getting to me more than last time. I do not know how, but I could somehow feel that something was coming towards my cell. It was not the guard for his footsteps were loud and strong. These were gentle and quiet. These were unusual, almost wet like the person came out from a pool.

I knew who it was. It was the girl from my "nightmares." The one who told me to kill everyone when I was a child. She has come back for me. Why is she here? Why does she want me to kill again?. The door opens slowly, and my fears come to life. She whispers to me again as my head is overcome with intense pain.

"Kill them all."

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><p>They are under my control now. They all turned on, one by one from my will alone, their weapons ready. They all followed me to Armacham to help me exact my revenge. The loneliness of the cell now gone, forgotten from my mind. I am walking down inside the building slowly, when I noticed a guard sitting down on a couch. I walked behind him ready to end his pitiful life. It only took him a second to realize I was there and turn around before I slashed his throat with a knife.<p>

I could feel my soldiers go through the building, searching for the rest of security. I can practically imagine those Armacham fools watching through their little security cameras in disbelief for that which is coming to them. And before I knew it, I could feel my men shooting down the guards before they could defend themselves. Their bodies lay everywhere, with the smell of gunfire and blood strong in the air. I had found a dead scientist in a room with two of my soldiers standing over him. I leaned over his dead body and "nourished myself" over his informative corpse. It was then I learned the location of the man of who I am looking for. He will lead me to her.

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><p><strong><em>The Senator<em>**

The phone was ringing. Who in their right mind would call me at this hour? Whoever it was, they had better have a damn good excuse. Answering with a tired "Yes" showing my displeasure at this to the jackass that called me. Then I heard her voice say "Sorry to wake you, Senator. It's about Origin."

I jumped up nervous, the seriousness of what she said taking complete control of my actions. "What happened?" I said to her, with her responding back "There was an uprising. Fettel has taken command of the prototypes." "My God" was all I could mutter. That freak had gotten out from where we put him. But who would let that cannibalistic monster out? And for what purpose?

"We can still resolve this discreetly, but we have to move fast." the woman on the other line told me. She knew what will happen if that fucko remains free. As much as I disprove of the methods we will probably have to use, I see no other alternative. I told her "All right, all right. Let me… make a few calls." I was hoping we would never face this dilemma again. Hoping we would just leave it behind us and get some sleep over it. But yet, my hand is being forced into action, and I have a feeling I will not like how this ends.

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><p><strong><em>The "Point Man"<em>**

All of us had arrived at HQ about half an hour ago, where our commander "Rowdy" Betters was giving me, Spen, and Jin the briefing for our mission. Betters was in his mid 40's, had short black hair and green eyes, and a little on the chubby side. He was dressed more casual than other commanders, with just a striped button-up shirt and blue jeans. Only thing that made him stand out was his black bullet vest and a hat on saying "F.E.A.R." It was not that often F.E.A.R. operatives are assigned in groups. Whatever is going on, it must be serious. Betters began explaining our mission while the main monitor in the briefing room was showing some guy in several windows.

This man for some reason sent a vibe that I could not explain. He had short black hair, pale skin, and green eyes. He had on a red jacket with some parts leathered in black. He also wore khaki white pants that look rugged and filthy with black military boots. But what really made him stand out was the blood splattered across his chest and mouth. I honestly preferred not to wonder what that was about. It was then I actually started paying attention to what Betters was saying.

"This wacko's name is Paxton Fettel. He's the key. If we contain him, we contain the situation." Spen looked at the screen and instantly pointed out "Fucker's got an appetite." Well ain't that an understatement. Spencer Jankowski was always the smartass member in the group. He would either joke around with the situation or point out the unusual stuff about anyone and anything. We were both dressed in the same combat gear, headsets on the right ear, black military pants and gray shirts on. We both even had the same white body armor covering our chests. Unlike me however, he was mostly bald with just a small mustache and goatee. At least I had more hair than him.

Jin then said "I think he has an agenda. It's not just recreational. He's getting something out of it." Unlike the rest of us here, Jin Sun-Kwon mainly served as field medic. She had long black hair tied in a ponytail, her facial structure showing some Korean heritage. She had on a latex medical outfit with multiple bags on her, possibly carrying medical equipment. I barely knew much about her, but from where I was standing, she looked kind of attractive from here.

"Essential vitamins and nutrients?" Spen said with his smart ass attitude.

"What's his story?" Jin said which I think both me and Spen were wondering the same thing.

"Property of Armacham Technology Corporation. They're working on a military contract to develop an army of clones that respond to a psychic commander. Top secret, of course. Fettel is one of the commanders." Betters told us.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me. This is why nobody takes us seriously. Military clones?" Spen summed up pretty nicely. Sure we investigate "unusual" stuff, but I sure haven't heard any stories where we faced ghosts or clones. We sound almost like the FBI, only we get paid less.

"A full battalion of them. Highly trained and heavily armed." Betters told us.

"A battalion! What are we supposed to do against a thousand super soldiers!" Jankowski said irritated. I was wondering the same thing, too.

"Like I said, we put Fettel down and it's over. Fortunately, the whole point of the program is to give commanders firsthand knowledge of the battlefield without putting them in danger. That means we should be able to corner the bastard without having to wade through all those soldiers." Betters explained to all of us.

"How do we find him?" Jin asked.

"Armacham implanted a transmitter in his head. It should lead us right to him." Betters said.

"That's awfully convenient." Spen told him. Wow, Spen and I agreed on something for the first time today.

"Assuming it does what it's supposed to." Betters turned to me and said "What about you, buddy? You ready to go work?"

"You're putting him in the field? Are you crazy? He just transferred in a week ago!" Spen told him. Okay, it's true I haven't been here long, but I think I deserve some credit. This is my first mission, and I sure am gonna prove my worth to this team.

"You've seen his training results. His reflexes are totally off the charts. I think he can handle himself." At least Betters vouched for me. Well, it is true that training was easy, since I always did move faster and react better than everyone else. I guess it kind of makes me stand out, I just wish I knew why. I mean, it's not like this little trait anyone else could have, right?

"Whatever, man, it's your call." Spen said with Betters responding back "Goddamn right it is." Jin looked at me and said "Don't worry, you'll be fine." Deep down, that did make me feel a little better. Hopefully this will turn out better than we can imagine. Betters got all of us ready and told us "Let's roll." I was following him and the others on the way out of HQ to prepare myself. But there was one thing that happened I didn't tell anyone after we left. It happened a while after the meeting, that I saw something...

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><p>I was surrounded by white light. The only thing in this place besides me was that man, Paxton Fettel. I could not move, as if I was frozen all over. Fettel, with his breath the stench of flesh, came towards me. It was almost like he was gonna eat me, but instead said something to me that left me confused.<p>

"What's the first thing you remember?"

What the hell does that mean? Before I knew it, my view went to darkness where I heard a woman scream "No" very loud to where it hurt my ears. I had no idea what was going on. Next thing I knew, I saw a device above me. It almost looked like one on an operating table at the hospital. My vision goes black again as I heard the woman's voice.

"Where are you taking him!" she said. Who was she? Why am I seeing all of this?

"You will be a god among men." an older male said. He was looking down at me with amazement. He had gray hair, a small mustache, with thick black glasses on. I had no idea who this guy was, nor did I have time to think much on it. Before I knew it, we were on our way to where I was supposed to be dropped off.

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><p>Betters was personally dropping me off to where Paxton Fettel was last found on the transmitter. He was taking me in his car to where he drove for about 15 minutes. He turned down an alley where he was talking to me about the situation. "We've tracked Fettel to an abandoned building just up ahead. No sign of enemy activity on the satellite, but don't take any chances." He stopped up ahead and went down to his little computer where he got in hold with Jankowski.<p>

"Jankowski, you in position?". Spen responded back with "Just say the word." "All right, move it out." Betters told us as I stepped out of the car. I pulled out the Rakow HP-14 .40 cal pistol that all F.E.A.R. team members carry with them. To be honest, if it weren't for the rate of fire being just a tad bit slow, this would be my favorite weapon to carry on me. It's strong, durable, and easy for me to use. Didn't have that much bullets on me, so I just had to hope I didn't need to use them all.

I went up ahead slowly, making sure that this Fettel guy or these "Replica Soldiers", as Betters calls them, don't get the drop on me. I stopped when I noticed a boarded fence in my way. I broke through them with the butt of my pistol easily and got through. All I saw around me were tires and trash littered across the ground. The door up ahead to the building we are supposed to investigate was covered with wood. Obviously, someone did not want anyone to come here.

Luckily, there was another door to the side of this building that wasn't blocked off. I went there and opened the door slowly into a small room with cabinets and trash over at the side. Rats were all over it, which I guess I should not be surprised. I went forward a little bit before I found one room where the lights were not working. Thankfully, I had a flashlight on my vest that I turned on and was able to get through the darkened area. There was a door on the opposite side that I had found. When I put my hand on the knob, the door completely fell down on the floor before me. That was interesting...

I entered the room in front of me with my gun ready, and from the looks of it, it looks like the main room of the building. I noticed the window of a door to my left break open. I would've pointed my gun at it if I didn't notice that it was Jankowski on the other side. He must've just noticed me. I ran up to him when he said to me "Hey, bro, what took you so long?" I could just simply say that Betters kept running into red lights.

Jankowski looked around and noticed that the double doors we were next to was completely boarded. I sure hope it was just the loving neighborhood doing all this cause this was starting to get ridiculous. He turned to me and said "Try to find a way around.". He went back to the hallway he came from to look for another way up. I turned around myself and checked the other rooms on this floor before the stairs. Nothing unusual found in them, so I turned my attention back to the stairs where the other double doors were at. I opened them and found another set of double doors on the other side. I tried to open them, but something must've been stuck on the other side preventing me from getting through.

I went down the hallway to my left and turned around the corner. I went across the stuff on the floor that was in the way easily. As I continued forward, the lights started to flicker above me, the tiles of the walls coming off on their own. Then all of a sudden, an image of a person's face flashed through my mind. What freaked me out about the face was how most of it looked torn off. Almost as if parts of it were "chewed" off. But it happened for a split second I could barely contemplate what it was about, or who it could've been. I had decided at the moment to forget about it and continue forward, for maybe it was just my imagination.

As I walked forward, I noticed that there was a spot up ahead where a door should be, only the top half of it was covered by wooden boards. But for a minute I froze. Someone was just walking across down the hallway in front of me. It didn't look like Fettel, and it certainly didn't look like a Replica. So who was this guy? I followed him, and as I got through the boards I noticed that he was gone. Then I heard a voice in my head.

"Why did you bring me here? Why did you bring me back?"

The voice had a deep echo of a male. Who was the person I just saw? I have to find out. I went forward and the door that was open just suddenly shut in front of me. I must have been hallucinating again, for now I started hearing cries of a baby. This was getting too weird for me. I opened the door slowly and noticed that no one was in the room. Then suddenly, objects from the cabinet to my right fell down to the floor. I really wish I knew what the hell was going on. I guess that a good start is to try and find Fettel first.

As I went forward I found another room with a door that had a lock on it. That guy I saw could not have been able to go forward ahead of me if this door was locked. I turned my sight over to a table next to me. It looked like the same one that I had in my vision earlier. Some weird coincidence. I shot the lock to the door with my pistol as it broke through easily. I opened the door and started ascending some stairs with the light barely working.

As I was going up, the light for the room just completely came down on me. I ducked and looked up to see it dangling above me with it flickering. I started to hate this place more and more. I went up the remaining stairs hoping that even the roof doesn't fall on my head. I went down the hallway to the right and noticed the doors were blocked from the other side with junk. Lucky for me, Jankowski showed up from the other side of the door and spoke to me.

"Hold on a sec." he said as he knocked over the stuff for me. I opened the door immediately as he said in a rushed tone "Come on." I had also noticed that he was carrying a common SMG, the Sumak RPL. How come he got the cool weapon and I didn't? Forgetting that, we both put our backs on each of the wall next to the other door in the hallway. He asked me with a simple "Ready?" before he kicked the door open with him yelling "Go!".

As we got in, either my reflexes started to kick in, or time seemed to just slow down. As we walked forward, I don't know how, but Jankowski just disappeared. It was as if his body just dispersed into thin air. Before I could yell out for him, I heard that voice again.

"You were born here. In this place. I was there."

I had no idea how to react to all of this. I even started hearing whispering of what sounded like a little girl. I continued forward as time was still going slow for me. That was when I noticed someone sitting down on a small chair ahead of me. As I walked up to the person, time now started to run normal for me. From where I could see, this guy had on a blue button up shirt with a white one underneath and plain blackish-brown pants. He didn't have that much hair and it was a bit hard to say what it was age was. Late 40's, perhaps?

I almost sounded crazy to think this, but with the way his face was all torn up... he looked exactly like same man I saw with the face torn off. Well, from where I was standing, it looked like he was eaten up. I turned around and almost jumped as Jankowski was right there looking over at the corpse. It was as if he never went anywhere. I was about to ask him what happened when he contacted Jin over the radio.

"Jin! We need you up here!"

"On my way" Jin replied.

"Looks like we're too late, boss. Just leftovers." Spen said over to Betters who was on the other line.

"The transmitter's signal coming from nearby. Fettel's gotta be around there somewhere." Betters told us.

"I'll wait here for Jin. You take a look around." Jankowski told me. Yeah, like I'm really looking forward to that part. Not like I don't have any other stuff going on. I noticed the stairs to the right and went that direction. Before I even went upstairs, I noticed a figure walk across the other side of the door where it was open. I think it was Fettel this time. I would've told Spen, but I decided to check it out first. I quickly opened the door and looked around for Fettel, only to see him nowhere in sight. It looked like I was on the roof of the other side of the building. I looked to the left of the door where Fettel went, but there was just a wall. Where did he go?

I continued forward across the roof when a black crow flew by. It is almost as if everything in this damn place was trying to scare me today. Continuing onward, I went inside another room. I got distracted when I looked to my right. It was still early in the noon, but the sun was mostly down, the skies overtaken by clouds. I put my thoughts back on the job and opened another door that lead to the other side of this roof. I kept going slowly where to the right I saw two machines that probably conduct the air inside. Walking on over there, I looked to the left first and saw nothing before I turned to the right.

The last thing I saw before I passed out was Paxton Fettel smacking me across the head with a metal chair.

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><p>I woke up what must have been a minute or two. Fettel was standing over me and two of his Replicas looking off to the distance. The sounds of that little girl whispering was heard all around me for some reason. Fettel kneeled over me as I saw fresh blood over his mouth and jacket. Instead of killing me, he just spoke.<p>

"The dead man's name was Charles Habegger. I remember him." He said that last part as if he got some sick enjoyment out of it. "But are the memories mine? Or hers?". Who was this person that he's talking about? And why did he kill him...?

"It makes no difference. He deserved to die. They all deserved to die."

That was the last thing that happened before I passed out again.

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><p>I woke up again to the sound of Betters trying to get a hold of me over the radio. "Come in, over. What's going on? I've lost Fettel's signal." Slowly getting up, I regained my composure keeping a firm grip on my pistol. Looking around, I couldn't see anyone on the roof here anymore. Both Fettel and those cloned Replica soldiers with him were gone. Over the radio, I heard one of the leaders of F.E.A.R.'s primary partner, the SFOD-D(Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta) talk to Betters on the channel we have been using since we started this op.<p>

"Tomcat, this is Den Mother. I hope you aren't busy. We've got a situation down at the harbor."

"What kind of situation?" Betters asked.

"We've located those soldiers you were looking for, but we're under orders not to engage until you guys reconnoiter."

"Understood" Betters responded back to him.

"I've got two birds en route to your position. You should have a visual shortly." Den Mother told him as I began to hear the sounds of those choppers approaching this place.

"We'll be ready." Better finished the conversation there. I headed back to meet up with Jankowski. Hopefully, Jin had arrived by now to help with the situation. I don't know why I didn't I report to HQ that I found Fettel, or what he told me about me. I just figured for now, I should just head back and meet up with my squad. Fettel could've also lied to mislead us. On the way back, I saw two helicopters from Delta Force fly to our location.

As I came back, before I went down the stairs I heard two voices downstairs. It sounded like both Spen and Jin talking to each other. I stopped for a minute and overheard them speak. "What do you think of the new point man?" Spen was saying. I'm glad he at least acknowledges that I exist. Jin answered "Well, he's pretty cute." I have to admit, I kinda blushed for a second. But what Spen said after that really got my attention.

"That's not what I meant."

"Just say what's on your mind, Jankowski." She told him

"I don't know, something about him just feels… off." What does he know, anyway? I think I'm pretty normal.

"The day I look to you as a judge of character will be a sad day indeed." Jin said to my defense. I would've laughed if I wasn't deep in thought of what they were saying.

"I'm serious. It's something about his eyes... Like he's looking right through you." Spen told her.

"Maybe it's because you're one dimensional." Jin said bluntly

I figured I've probably wasted too much time listening to them and decided to just enter the room downstairs. Jin was looking at the dead body while Jankowski looked at me saying "Hey, back already? See anything?". Before I could tell them, Betters interrupted us over the radio saying "You guys about done up there? Our day's just getting started.". Jin, while still examining the body, said "You boys run along. I'll be busy here for a while." Me and Spen had left the room as we went back outside to meet up with Delta Force. As we were on the way, there was another thing I had seen that troubled me...

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><p>The whisper of that little girl repeated again in my head. I was back sitting down on the operating table, with that light beaming down on me. But I felt like it really wasn't me. I kept hearing the voice of an older man yelling "Breathe" over and over. He yelled "Make her push!" while my vision was brought towards a man standing in a corner with a lab coat. He was twitching almost nervously like something was bothering him.<p>

"I've tried to forget. I've tried so hard to forget."

The sound of a baby crying was heard again as my sight switched back and forth between the light and him in the corner. He was slowly turning his head towards where I was looking at him. Then everything faded to black with a nightmarish scream.

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><p>My sight returned back to the LZ. I saw Spencer and a African-American Delta Force member standing next to the chopper outside. I was sitting in with a couple other Delta members inside the helicopter while hearing the briefing of our mission. His name was Douglas Holiday, one of the best of the SFOD-D that they had. He had a very excellent track record of handling with terrorist threats and was well respected, even among the other F.E.A.R. operatives. He was standing before everyone as he was giving them the details.<p>

"These men are from F.E.A.R. They are special attachments to our unit for the duration of this op. They will be on point. Their mission is to assess the nature of the threat. Our job is to keep them alive. Do not engage the enemy. Remember that we are not dealing with ordinary bad guys."

This guy sure knew what he was doing. He must have been leader of these guys for a while, for the squad operative were nodding to him as though they were best friends.

"Team 1 will move in from the southwest. Team 2 will approach from the north. Once our recon is complete, we will rendezvous and wait for further orders."

Everyone nodded and grabbed their weapons. Holiday shouted "Okay, let's saddle up." Spencer went with the other half of Delta Force and boarded the other heli while Holiday and his team stayed behind to assist Jin. We took off and were on our way to the harbor. Hopefully, things will be easier from here on out...

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><p>Whelp, this is all I have ready for my story. Reviews would be awesome please :D<p> 


	2. First Encounter

Alright here is chapter 2 of this story. Like I said, I don't own anything but the imagination I have of this story that Monolith Studios made. So don't tell them that I said this was really all my idea. Please? xD

Notes:

1. Once again, enjoy :P

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><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 02 - INITIATION**

**FIRST ENCOUNTER**

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><p><strong> The "Point Man"<strong>

We were soon to arrive at the harbor, with my team reaching the southwestern section, Jankowski's at the north. Our team was ready to be dropped off in less than a minute. This time, instead of just my pistol, I got myself the same SMG that Delta and Jankowski had. This just make things a lot smoother in case we encounter any Replicas. The pilot stopped above what looked like tons of crates by the water. "This is our stop, people!" the leader of the our small Delta unit said as we were just above the LZ. Time to go to work.

"Let's go fuck shit up!" he expressed with excitement as rappel lines came down from the chopper. All of us went down the ropes with our weapons armed and ready. As we all landed on the ground, the leader instantly said "Den Mother, this is Little Bird. We're on the ground." He sure seemed to be in a rush, since he raced forward with his team all the way to the gate blocking our way.

"Copy that. Proceed to first objective." Den Mother said to us before he went off the line.

"Since you're on point, see if you can get this gate open!" the leader of the unit told me as everyone else was waiting by the gate.

"I'd send one of my boys, but I think we need a "specialist" for this one." he said with a mocking tone. Great, it's like having Jankowski here. Not wanting to argue with them, I looked around and saw a control room up ahead on the second floor of the warehouse nearby. That must be where the switch for the gate was. With my SMG ready, I went pass the large crates next to us to locate an entrance. As luck would have it, there was a metal staircase that led upstairs to the building. I made my way through some of the smaller rooms before I made it to the control room.

There was a dead body on the floor with blood all across the floor. He must've been one of the employees who was working here before Fettel's forces got here. Not anymore apparently. I turned towards a yellow lever, which was the switch for the gate. Putting my left hand off my weapon, I used it to push the lever up. It only took about a second for the gate to open as my squad proceeded forward.

"Good job. Head on back." the team leader said. I headed back the way I came and stopped when I noticed the lights above me go off. My radio also started to act funny too. Gunfire took up the silence outside where Delta Force was. I heard one of them yell "What the hell is that!" on the radio. "Over there!" "Look out!" was all I could hear on the other line. Was this a Replica ambush? I hurried back as fast as my legs could take me.

"Little Bird, what's your situation, over? Little Bird, come in!" Den Mother tried to contact us over the radio. The signal must've been weak 'cause I couldn't hear him anymore. Betters tried contacting me too, but I could barely understand him too. It made me wonder if the Replicas were possibly interfering with our communications. The last thing I heard from Betters before the radio died was "I'm losing your signal! If you can hear me, rendezvous with Jankowski! Repeat, rendezvous to Jankowski!". I hurried back to where Delta Force was as quickly as I could. What I saw nearly made me throw up.

They were nowhere to be found. All that remained were bones of people covered in blood, the red liquid splattered everywhere on the ground. I had never seen this much blood before in my life. Fresh steam was coming off from - what I was afraid to guess - the remains of my Delta Force squad. I moved forward from what must've been forever to look closer, to just understand how this could have happened. My sight then turned to darkness.

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><p>I didn't know what to make of all this. From what I could see, Delta Force was running away, firing the weapons behind them in fear. Everything that was happening was at a slow pace, as if time itself was slowing down for this moment. My sight turned to what they were shooting at. It was a little girl. She looked no older than probably 8 years old. She had a small red dress with long black hair, completely barefoot. Her skin was deathly white, her eyes covered by the bangs of her hair. A large fire was behind her, as if it was following her every step. Delta Force was falling towards the ground as the little girl was approaching them, blood oozing out of their bodies. She looked at me before my sight turned back to Delta, from where their skin was practically burned off from their bodies in a few seconds, leaving only both bones and blood to where they once were.<p>

* * *

><p>I was now back in the present. All I could do was stare at the remains of my squad. There is no way they deserved this. What the fuck am I talking about? None of this I should be thinking that all of this is really happening. This... Goddam, shit like this just does not happen. As much as I wanted to see this as a bad dream, deep down... I was only trying to fool myself. This REALLY happened. Everyone was dead... and I have no idea how to explain this to anyone.<p>

I must've stayed there for what must've been 5 minutes before I finally gained the courage to continue. I had to meet up with Jankowski's squad and get my radio working. I moved forward to the building in front of me, looking for a door that I can enter. One of the light bulbs on the side of the warehouse then broke. I ignored it, for I felt like I wasted enough time. As I got closer, I saw a door to the side of the building I could use. Gunfire was heard from the inside. Cautiously, I made my way to the door with my SMG ready. I opened the door slowly and noticed someone bleeding out on the floor inside.

"They just started shooting… Help me…". It was one of the maintenance crew who was working here. I went to his side only for him to die right away. Voices were heard just up ahead in the warehouse. Quietly, I made my way to the side of the entrance of the room ahead. Looking around the corner, that was when I saw the Replica troops.

There were two of them, one next to me and the other in a smaller room about 20 feet from the first soldier. They definitely looked like hardcore bastards. They had on military camouflage uniforms and black boots, the symbol of two yellow arrows pointing down - the Replica insignia - stitched on their outfit. Brown bullet vests and black shoulder guards worn on their chests. They were carrying the same SMG weapon as me, with multiple caches on their belts for extra ammunition. They had on helmets with black visors covering their head, so I couldn't get a look at their face. And to be honest, I didn't want to know what they looked like without 'em.

"Command, all civilians have been neutralized." one of the Replicas said over their radio. They had a deep, almost robotic voice which I wasn't sure if that was from their radio or their real voice. It looked as if they had killed all the workers in this building, for there were other bodies scattered across this place. "Echo Zero, report." another Replica said, which must've been one of the commanders for this unit. "Echo Zero, roger. Hold position and intercept hostile forces." the other one said. They both stood there waiting for new orders. I decided to take this opportunity to kill them all for what they did to everyone.

With one of them having his back to me, I snuck up behind the son of a bitch and shot him right in the head. The other yelled "Threat sighted!" before I took him down quickly with about 7 rounds of my weapon through the glass of another room up ahead. From the sound of things, there were no other Replicas nearby. Luckily for me, since we had the same weapon, I could pilfer some of their sub-machine gun ammunition.

I went ahead slowly and saw that I was under the 2nd floor of this part of the warehouse. There was blood dripping down from one of the rails above me. A body of another worker fell down to the floor right next to me. Blue electricity was running through upstairs, and I swore I heard something run away very quickly. Not wanting to wait, I kept on going and took the stairs to the upper floor. I went around until I saw where one of the windows was supposed to be. It was covered with only a few wooden boards. I looked past them and saw another building across the other side with a small door, with only a fence preventing me from getting there on foot. I knocked off the boards and walked slowly along the balcony.

After I dropped down, I then quietly opened the door with my submachine gun held tightly. More Replicas were just up ahead with one saying "All elements, be advised that Echo Zero is not responding." I noticed that he was walking away from the supplies that were inside. Also, there was another one of them walking across the other side of a huge shutter gate about halfway opened that led back outside. Their radio went off again with one of them saying "Command, this is Echo Seven. Should we investigate?". "Negative. I'll dispatch a search team." one of the Replicas replied back before they stopped they got off their channel.

Drawing my SMG out, I fired down one of the Replicas as his body fell to the ground. I then opened fire at the other soldier beyond the gate before he could return fire back at me. I ran to the small room to my right, checking for anyone else nearby. All I saw was another dead worker on the floor and another Replica running towards the door to this room from the outside. He noticed me for only a second until I shot him with several bullets, his dead corpse falling to the floor soon after.

Another one from outside was firing at me through the window. I ducked and waited until he stopped. Quickly, I stood back up and returned fire with multiple rounds killing him. I ran outside and looked around for anymore of them. One Replica was running towards one of the larger crates taking cover. I followed him next to what seemed like a maze of metal crates. That was when he jumped out and drew his weapon. In order to save myself, I kicked off my reflexes and time slowed down for me. I opened fire at the soldier before he could even pull the trigger to where I was. His body fell to the ground as my reflexes went back to normal.

Pretty sure that I took down the whole unit in this area, I made my way out of the shipping supplies and entered the other warehouse from where they came from. Going forward through a couple of hallways, I stopped when I entered a large storage of several different items. Only one small light was working in the middle of this place. Suddenly, some of the items dropped down to the floor. That same blue electricity was on the other exit across from where I was. It looked like it went down the hallway up ahead.

I followed it down the hallway until I heard more Replicas activity. I looked around the corner when I saw just about a couple of them ahead of me. "This is Echo Six, we've reached the first marker." "Roger, Echo Six. Secure the area. Intruders have been confirmed." They must've noticed Jankowski's team. This time, I decided to mix things up a bit since I was low on ammo with my SMG. I drew my pistol and opened fire at the two Replicas in the room. It only took half a clip for me to finish them off.

Another Replica burst through the window from another room and opened fire at me. I kicked in my reflexes again, dodged to the side and returned fire at him. He was soon dead before time went to a normal pace for me. I continued forward where I heard about two more of them up ahead. Next to me was a table that had several grenades on it. They were N6A3 Frags, grenades that explode shortly after they are thrown. They also explode on impact if they make contact with someone. These are sure to come in handy.

The Replicas in the huge storage room both started firing at me after I entered. Dodging behind some supplies, I waited for them to reload. When they had to, I turned back around the corner and returned fire at them. One of them was dead soon, the other right after as he was trying to run for cover. After they were down, all I had to do was reload and figure out where to go next. I noticed there were two balconies both on the 2nd floor to my left and right. I'm sure if I find the stairs, I'll figure out where to go.

I found the stairs and went up when I noticed one more of these freaks waiting for me. Before he could raise his weapon, I ran up to him and knocked him down to the ground. I grabbed him by his helmet and smashed his head to the ground. It must've killed him, for I could practically hear his skull break. Making my way through some of the hallways - some blocked off - I came across where the balcony I saw before ended. There was no way to get around, and the door on the other balcony was out of reach. I looked to my left and found a lever located in another room I couldn't enter, since it was blocked by a table from the other side. There were, however, a few containers full of supplies I can walk on that could help me get to where the lever was.

Before I pushed the lever up, I noticed a phone on the table. It was blinking red, which probably means someone left a voicemail. With my curiosity intrigued, I pressed "Play" on the machine. It said out loud with a soft female voice "You have one new message." The one who left the voicemail sounded like a young man in his mid 20's with him saying "Yeah, this is Chet in accounting. Nobody seems to know what's going on, but we've been hearing a lot of loud noises. Have you guys heard anything over there?". Whoever this guy was, he probably was one of the unfortunate workers that the Replicas probably killed earlier. "End of messages." was said by the voicemail when it turned off.

Turning back to the lever, I took my grip off the submachine gun and pulled it the device straight up. A large metal crane holding a gigantic metal container was moving to the right side of the room. With the way it was going, I could use this to jump on and get to the balcony on the other side. The door on the other side opened up with a group of about three Replicas barging in. From here, I couldn't get a clear shot with my weapon. I then decided that now would be a great idea to put those new grenades I picked up earlier to good use. I took one of them out from my belt and tossed it over to the group of Replicas. The grenade made contact with one of soldiers and exploded with quite a loud bang. There was nothing remaining after the explosion, well except maybe for a few limbs and blood all over.

I jumped on the container and crossed over to the other side. Entering the room, there were two more Replicas waiting for me. They started shooting at me when I kicked in my reflexes to back up. I crouched down and went back in there firing the remainder of ammo in my SMG into them. After reloading, I continued forward through some rooms into another huge storehouse. I heard more Replicas yell out "Over here!" as I noticed three more of them come out from another shutter downstairs. I killed them all after I fired my weapon at them before they could locate me. I made my way downstairs and noticed the new weapons they started carrying. They had one of the most useful assault rifles that have been developed recently, the Rakow G2A2. I was running low on ammo for the SMG, so I decided to get rid of it and take one of the rifles and magazines for it. They obviously no longer needed it.

I went outside from the double doors next the stairs to where there were trucks parked that they probably used to ship supplies. Before I knew it, there were about three Replicas shooting at me. I started shooting back at them with the rifle and - lucky me - got them all. In the back of my mind, I kind of felt I was making all of this seem easier than it actually is.

A door opened far ahead from another building to what must have been the last two members of this small unit coming out. They were shooting at me with such accuracy, I think the distance between us was what really saved me. I took cover and waited for the perfect moment to strike back. I took a chance and threw one last grenade as far as I could possibly throw it over to where they were. They tried to get out of the way before it blew up, with them just barely out of the crossfire. I ran up to them quickly and finished them off with my pistol.

After scavenging some spare ammo from the rifles off the dead Replicas I just killed, I looked around and tried to figure out where to go from here. There was a huge building to the right of me with some small steps to the side of it leading inside. This way should lead me to where I could meet up with the other squad. I opened the door cautiously and walked into a small room. There was nothing special in particular here, so I continued on to the hallway. Time then slowed down for me again, and I knew it wasn't from the reflexes. The flash of a persons face came right before my eyes, just like earlier today at the abandoned building. He had a very pale face, almost as if he was dead. What shocked me more was the holes in his head where his eyes should be, blood running down.

I went down into the hallway and saw someone up ahead slowly walking away. It was Jankowski. But where was the rest of his squad? He wasn't even carrying his weapon. He looked like he was… far away. Not actual distance, just his presence gave me that feeling. I didn't know how to explain it. I had to follow him and ask him what was going on. I tried to catch up, only to see his body just dissipate into the air. It was just like before, back at that building where we found the body of Charles Habegger. I then began to hear Spencer's voice, a deep echo going through my mind.

"Is someone there?"

The whispers of that girl were heard again, this time lasting longer than before. I went down the hallway to see if I could find Jankowski. I saw him again walking further ahead, this time with a trail of blood where he came from. Desperately, I tried to reach out for him only for him to disappear right in front of me again. I heard his voice echo across in my head.

"Is someone there?"

This time that he said it, it was not with confusion. It seemed to show a bit of concern in the way it was spoken. Time started moving normal for me again. What could have happened to Spen? I followed the trail of blood into a much larger room up ahead.

Blood was everywhere, skeletons littered across the floor. It was just like with my squad, steam coming off from what was left. Could this have been Spen's squad? But something was strange. His squad had about three Delta's in it, along with Spen. But here, there were only three of their remains in front of me. Does it have something to do with how I just saw Jankowski? That was when it hit me. That flash I saw of that person's face… Could it have been him? I wasn't able to get a good look on Jankowski's face when I tried to follow him, so I couldn't tell the difference. Just what was going on here?

So much for rendezvous with the other team. I have to try to get in contact with Betters somehow or someway. I took the stairs to my right upwards and opened the door in the hallway. I ended up in what was probably an old office, for their were tables and boxes everywhere. There was a large window nearby mainly broken open, it leading down into a narrow hallway. With nowhere else to go, I jumped down below. But just as soon as I did, the other side of the room exploded into flame.

Time slowed down as the hallway started to become consumed in fire. What I saw in the flames brought fear inside of me. It was that same little girl. The same one I saw earlier that killed my teammates. There's no way this can be happening. I barely had enough time to figure out what to do, for the rest of this building was starting to come down in fire and smoke. I had to get out as quickly as possible. Even though everything going around me was slow, it felt like there was no more time left for me. I ran the opposite direction, my sight making it difficult of what was in this hall. There was a door to the right I could take to get out. Before I could reach it, I was completely blown away by an explosion. My body was propelled forward to the window up several feet up. I crashed through the window and fell to the ground outside of the building. The pain was intense at first, but went away in time.

I was still alive, but now more scared than ever for my life. As sleep took over my body, I began to wonder what exactly we had gotten ourselves into.

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><p>Like I said before, Reviews would be appreciated thanks for reading it!<p> 


	3. Infiltration

Here comes chapter 3! Now this one and the next three chapters were some of the more redundant ones of this story, at least in my opinion, so bear with me! I've tried my best to add some "oomph" into them so that they are at least enjoyable to read.

Enjoy :O

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><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 03 - ESCALATION**

**INFILTRATION**

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><p><strong> The "Point Man"<strong>

As I woke up, my vision started to come back to me in a blur. I saw Jin Sun-Kwon kneel down next to me with a Delta Force member by her. She was looking down at me saying "He's alive." The radio started working for me again and I could hear Betters voice. "Should I call in a medavac?" he said to Jin over the radio. She was inspecting me for any injuries I might have had. "He doesn't appear to be injured, although I don't know how he survived." Jin told him. Now that I think about it, I was perfectly fine. Last thing I remember before passing out was an large explosion and that little girl in the red dress.

"Worry about that later. I'm reading Fettel's transmitter near that position. We've got to take out that fucker, fast." Betters said over the radio. My sight was starting to fully came back to me as I was getting ready to stand back up. But man oh man, did I feel like crap right now.

"Jin, keep looking for Jankowski. I'm still reading his life signs." Better told her.

"You can't send him in alone, that's crazy!" Jin said hastily to my defense.

"He can take care of himself. Now move!" Betters finished.

I got back up on my feet with my rifle next to me. I picked it up and tried to steady myself. I looked over at Jin who had her arms crossed. Apparently, she wasn't too happy that I was going off on my own to find Fettel. And with Jankowski missing, I don't blame her. She told me with a look of concern "Be careful in there" as I nodded to her. The Delta Force member muttered a silent "You're lucky to be alive" as I started going down the alleyway up ahead. He had no idea how right he is. Hell, even I have no idea how lucky I still am.

I made my way forward further down the alley. I noticed some stairs next to me that led to the lower floor on the side of the building. Before I reached the stairs, an armored vehicle drove pass the alley in front of me which was all boarded up by wood. The Replicas must be on the move. As I entered the building, I noticed another dead body of a worker on the floor next to some bags of trash. The walls had been shot at, which means the Replicas most likely came through this way. Some funeral this guy must have had. Also, everything that had happened looked recent, so maybe I wasn't that far behind them. Making my way through this building, Den Mother was speaking to Betters again over the radio.

"Tomcat, looks like I'm not gonna be able to send you any reinforcements for a while. My helos just got diverted to Armacham headquarters. Something big is going on." he exclaimed.

"No shit. My people are right in the middle of it." Betters told him.

"I hear ya. I wish I was calling the shots." Den Mother said.

"Is it the same bad guys?" Betters asked him.

"Looks that way. I'm a little short on details." Den Mother finished.

"I guess this ain't a covert op anymore." Betters ended as the radio line was off.

My mind began to ponder what the Replicas would be doing at Armacham. As far as I knew, Armacham is just a billion dollar mega-corporation that specialized in state-of-the-art technology for space, weapons, and equipment. I doubt the soldiers and Fettel are there just to rob the place. Had to admit, I was disappointed that reinforcements would not be able to help us. But if they are that busy at Armacham, then I better end this now before more people die by some sick bastard's thrill ride.

Making my way from what looked like one of the engine rooms with a couple dead bodies, I found myself back outside. There was a large circular holding area, probably to help contain some bad water, with a walkway over it. A helicopter flew across from where I was up in the sky, probably belonging to those soldiers. I continued further down the walk way while noticing a ladder on the far right side that lead to what may have been part of their sewers. I'm going to have to figure out a way for this walkway to turn over to that area.

As I got to the other side of the walkway, I entered one of the smaller rooms inside one of the buildings up ahead where the control lever is. I pulled it up, and the walkway turned 90 degrees clockwise to where that ladder was. An lucky for me, there was another door here that I could use to get to that side. I noticed that one of the phones attached to the wall was blinking red. Maybe I can figure out what may have happened over here. I pressed Play on it with the machine saying "You have one new message."

"Mike, what the hell is going on over there! It sounded like an explosion. I can't get through to anybody. Call me back!" was said by a man possibly in his late 30's. He must be referring to the explosion that almost killed me.

The call was recent, which means there are probably more workers that aren't dead yet. I opened the door out of here and made it across to the ladder from the metal walkway. I went down one of the smaller ladders, and then down another before I made it to the lower floor underneath. Continuing onward, the light on the ceiling started to flicker. I sure hope this is just me. Making it to a set of small steps, I went down a dark narrow tunnel, with graffiti written on some the walls, probably from some kids who came here. Turning on my flashlight, I went ahead slowly with my weapon ready in case anything were to surprise me. The sound of quiet laughter was heard ahead of me. I looked down and noticed rats running away from the direction I was going.

This can't be good. My heart was beating loud, my breathing becoming difficult. Something was up ahead, and I wasn't sure if I was ready. I forced my legs to carry me forward. The other end of the tunnel had a light that was flickering. Before I reached the end, I saw that little girl. She ran to the right at the end of the tunnel where she disappeared from my sight. Following her with fear in my body, I got to the end and turned to the right where she went. She was gone. But she had no where to go, there was a wall right here.

I looked to the left and saw fresh blood in the darkness of one of the corners. Walking slowly, I went to the corner to investigate. It was remains of another person, their bones only left with steam coming off from it. That was when I saw the shadow of someone behind me. I turned around and saw the little girl again running to the side. I followed where she went only to see her gone. Where did she go? And what does she have to do with all this?

Deciding that I may have just been seeing things again, I turned to the ladder on the wall and made it up back to the surface. Another chopper flew by me as I looked up. More of the Replicas are probably being deployed. I went across another metal walkway to a building with blood and gunshots on the door and wall. I opened the door when I heard the Replicas speak over the radio.

"Echo 12, we have a possible intruder reported in your vicinity." one of them said.

"We haven't seen anything."

"Roger. Keep your eyes open." they finished. Thankfully, they don't know I'm here yet. Moving forward, I saw about two Replicas in another engine room. Both were on the upper floor, one next to a fire extinguisher and the other in a small room to the right. Not wanting to let them get the drop on me, I opened fire with my rifle on the one on the left killing him. The Replica on the right saw me and started opening fire. Taking cover by the wall, I returned fire to him. He took cover as well. Taking my chances, I ran to the room where he was at, and he was definitely surprised to see me. I shot him with several more bullets as they lead through the windows.

Continuing on through some hallways, I made it to large open area with large tanks on the floor below me. This were probably where this harbor filters the water in. I heard another Replica yell "Grenade out" and heard the sound of metal hit the floor in front of me. I ran back as far as I could before the explosion got me. I kicked in my reflexes, and ran back opening fire. I got the last two Replicas in the large room with my gun as their bodies fell down to the ground. Making my way down another hallway in front of me, I stopped when a metal fence was blocking my way. The door wouldn't open, probably having a lock on the handle.

Turning back, I noticed another metal fence in one of the corners, this time with a door I can cross through. I opened it and climbed the ladder next to it up. From where I was, it looked like some of the pipes that flowed through this place. That was when I looked ahead and saw that some of them almost looked like a path. It led to the other side back to the door I couldn't open.

Climbing on top on the pipes slowly, I made it across with no problems at all. There was a metal vent holder on the floor in front of me that led down. I banged on it with the butt of my rifle as it fell to the floor. After dropping down, I made it through a hallway with a door around the corner. Before I opened it, I heard more Replica activity in the other room, possibly to the far left side of it.

"Keep it tight. Echo 12 isn't responding."

"Do you need backup?"

"Negative. Stay put."

Making my way slowly through the room crouched down, I noticed a group of about four Replicas waiting for further orders. That was when I remembered I still had a couple grenades left. Time to see how these guys like it. I pulled it out, steadied my throwing arm, and threw it to the group of soldiers. It made contact with one of them and exploded taking the rest of those surprised bastards with him. Lucky me. I walked up to where the explosion was and made it past the dead bodies of the Replicas to a set of stairs that took me up. I went around the rail down some more hallways when I saw some fresh ammo and grenades on the table. Now I know my luck is getting better and I sure as hell am not gonna complain.

I refreshed my inventory and continued forward into another larger room. Taking cover after the sight of more Replicas coming down a ladder on the other side, I hid behind some of the larger pipes in the room. There were about three of them, and they are most likely looking for the team I just killed. That was when one of them must've noticed me and yelled "Threat sighted!". They started firing at me from a distance, forcing me into the defensive. I ran to the side into a small room on the right when I saw the Replicas through the window. They haven't noticed where I am yet so I took advantage at this and shot about two of them down through the windows. One began to run the other direction before I picked him off as well.

I went back from where I was and made it to the ladder these guys came down from on the 2nd floor. Climbing up, I went through some more hallways, with some of the doors unable to open because of the mess on the other side preventing me. I turned to one of the rooms on the left side and saw a laptop on the desk in the middle. It had documents opened of this place.

Betters informed us at the briefing that any and all laptops that look important on mission site should have the details forwarded to mission control. I typed in some information sending it to HQ for Betters to receive. I heard him tell me over the radio "The data's uploading now." as the files were being transferred.

"Interesting. I found a wastewater analysis summary addressed to an Armacham review committee. According to the abstract, there's some major contamination coming from upstream. I can't imagine why Armacham would be interested unless they're responsible." he finished as he went offline.

That was interesting. So the water is contaminated with some form of problem that is going on. The only questions where what it was and why Armacham would be interested with this. It's not like they own this place themselves. Something weird was going on, and only moving forward would we be able to figure out the answer. Making my way through some hallways with some lights working and others broken, I opened a set of double doors that led outside.

"Team, spread out" one of the Replicas said. I haven't seen them, and they haven't seen me, so I took cover behind one of the trash containers. With little ammo left in my rifle and needing to save up, I put my rifle to the side and drew my pistol. It was now or never, so I activated my reflexes and quickly took off to the side. I opened fire at two Replicas who were looking around, both taking several bullets to the chest and head. One of them yelled "Need reinforcements!" as he raised his weapon at me. I quickly shot him down dead when more Replicas opened fire at me from a distance. There were about three more of them on the other side, who look like they came from another building.

I took cover next to one of the smaller building in the middle of the area. I jumped back up and shot one of them down while the other two took cover. These guys are just not making it easy for me. I pulled out one grenade and threw it over to where they were. The explosion went off and I saw both of their bodies fly off to the side. Got 'em. Looks like this was the last of them.

I walked over to where they are by taking some small steps to the building they came from. Making it through some hallways with machines, I stopped at a rail that lead to a dark room with sewer water. There was a room with some lights working on the right that I could probably try to get to, but I need to find another way around. There was another hallway on the left where I could get to with the metal walkway across the rail. There was a ladder next to it that I could use to climb up.

Holding my breath, I climbed over the rail and jumped into the nasty sewer water. I swam to the ladder and climbed up to the metal walkway, catching my breath. Then my breath was taken away as I saw that little girl in red run across the room I had to get to, the light moving back and forth inside there. In order to catch up with her and figure out what the hell is going on, I made my way down the hallway and entered a room with some stairs that led to the upper floor. I climbed up the metal steps and followed the pipes down the dark passage to a ladder that led back down the other room. I slid down the ladder and made it to the room where that girl was.

A flash of light covered my eyes for a second as I saw her shadow walk slowly on the wall with the light shining towards it. I moved forward slowly following her when the flash of light consumed my sight again. Her shadow was gone and she was nowhere to be found. Just what is happening around here? There was a hole on the floor that led down to more bad water. With no other way to go, I jumped down into the water carefully. Next thing I knew, I was in a hallway I did not recognize.

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><p>There were cabinets to the side with a bright light shining beyond two double doors. But what really scared me was that half of the room from was filled with red blood. There was enough to where it reached up to my waist, some of it dripping down the walls next to me. This couldn't be happening... but it felt so real. I heard the cries of a baby and woman screaming in the room ahead of me, with a man in a lab coat having his back to the door. I don't know why I went there, but I was simply compelled to go there. To see what was going on. As I reached the door, a skeleton came from the blood and tried to grab me.<p>

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><p>I was back in the room I jumped down to. There was no blood anywhere, just that same sewer water and supplies littered across the area. What is happening to me...?<p>

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><p>Some reviews would be awesome and hope you enjoyed it!<p> 


	4. Heavy Resistance

Now for Chapter 4! Everyone still with me? And by "everyone" I guess like 3 or 4 people? xD I believe this one might be one of my shorter ones compared to the others, but don't fret! They get longer later!

Have fun! =D

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><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

I**NTERVAL 03 - ESCALATION**

**HEAVY RESISTANCE**

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><p><strong>The "Point Man"<strong>

Picking myself up from where I fell down the water, I checked the ammo in my weapons and reloaded for more bullets in them. Everything that I saw in that hallway shook me to the core, At HQ we went through psychological training to avoid letting these kind of wacky things get to us. There are no such thing as ghosts or monsters, that I knew for sure. However, what bothered me was how real it was. There is no possible way that all that can happen, no matter what. My thoughts were put on hold when Betters spoke over the radio to Jin.

"Jin, any word on Jankowski?"

"No, but I found some human remains. Impossible to ID without lab work."

"That can't be him. His life signs are a little unusual, but he's definitely alive. He's got to be around there somewhere."

"I'll keep looking." Jin finished as the line went off. I started worrying about Spen again, wondering if he was still alive. That face I saw earlier today just wouldn't be forgotten. And I can't tell the team this, because what good would my wild imaginations do us? It was time to get back to the mission. The ladder next to me only led to a door that was blocked on the other side, so I had to crouch next to the pipes to get out. I crawled out of where the pipes lead to another room. I saw a shadow of a Replica in a lone room ahead. "Check in" his team said with him responding "Nothing to report."

He must have scouted ahead for any survivors of this massacre. Lucky for me, he was by himself so he would be easy to take out. I walked slowly behind, grabbed him by the neck, and broke it with my bare hands. Continuing forward, I went past some machines probably venting out the pipes to the right. I looked up ahead and saw a walkway over some clean water, with it shining bright on the walls.

"She's afraid of you."

I recognized that voice. I looked over to my right and saw Jankowski just standing there. Where his eyes should be, they were gone. But even without them, I couldn't help feeling like he was staring through my soul. Blood dripping down from his face, his skin pale as a corpse. I tried to reach out to him when he disappeared into black dust right in front of me. Was it really Jankowski...? Or am I having some false hope he is alive? Whatever the case, if that wasn't him and I really am imagining this, then it is nothing to waste time for.

I continued past the walkway over the water and made my way through a hallway and stopped at the sound of Replicas ahead. "Stay out of sight. Draw him in." "Wait for my signal" there where saying, probably aware that I was nearby. Since I was sure they would spot me when I come out and no other direction around it, my hand went for one of the last two grenades on my belt. Hoping for the best, I let my arm take control and threw it up ahead from where they could be. The sound of the explosion filled the room and - lucky for me - the death cries of at least two Replicas were in the air.

Unfortunately for me, there were still about four more of them in the place, half on the ground next to some of the bigger pipes and the other half on the 2nd floor walkway. The ones on the walkway were too far for an accurate shot, so I opened fire at the ones on the ground. Thankfully, the distance between us saved me, for I was able to shoot them down while their gunfire barely missed me. The others tried to go around in a circle, probably to catch me off on both sides. Turning on my heightened reflexes, I ran forward to catch them by surprise. I jumped forward, turned around in the air, and opened fire at both them as I hit the ground. After I killed them, I got back on my feet and reloaded my rifle and realized it was my last clip. On the other hand, there were a bunch of free SMG guns lying around from the soldiers I just killed, so I took one of their weapons and restocked myself.

I went up the metal staircase to the 2nd floor and saw one path I could take and the other leading to a smaller room. It had some spare pistol ammo and grenades, so I decided to restock on those too. There was another phone on a table with a voicemail which I pressed Play on it with the machine saying "You have one new message."

"Hey, man, I heard something crazy's happening over there. You all right? Let me know. We're still on for Friday, right? Call me back, bro. I hope you're all right…" It was another worker of this plant. When he left the message, there was concern in his voice. It was hard to tell when this was.

I took the other path and followed it down some more hallways when I stopped at a big window. Looking outside, I saw large containers for storage, with several walkways leading around the building to the other side. No sign of any Replica Soldiers, but I still had to keep my guard. I went outside through one of the doors next to me and walked slowly ahead. I stopped after I heard some Replicas ahead of me. "Command, what's the SitRep?" "Still holding for orders. Remain where you are." "Understood."

I leaned around the corner of one of the containers and saw about three of them up ahead, one only about 20 ft from my position and the others standing around on the other walkway up ahead. I aimed down my sights and shot down the one closest to me. The others immediately turned around figuring out my position and opened fire. Hiding behind the container, I went around, leaned around the other corner and returned fire at them, killing both of them. Then four more of them arrived from the other walkway, all of them firing at me. These assholes are really starting to piss me off.

My options were limited, for the distance between us was hard for me to get a good shot. I couldn't wait for them to get closer, and I don't want to risk wasting a grenade. With so few choices left available, I took my chances and threw one more grenade out where they were. Unfortunately, they all jumped over the rail before the explosion went off, killing none of them. But on the other hand, they are now a little closer for me to aim. I shot about two of them down before they had time to react, while the others were quick enough to get out of the way. Taking advantage of this, I ran forward and followed them down in between one of the larger circular water containers. I got up to them pretty quickly and shot them down before they could turn around and counter.

I made it up the walkway these guys came from and went around another corner when out of nowhere I was getting shot at. I dodged the bullet, no pun intended, and took cover. I looked around the corner again and saw about six of them up ahead, with two of them on the metal staircase coming to where I was. Wanting to end this quick, I took out one more grenade, threw it back over where the other four soldiers were, and took out my gun and opened fire at the ones on the walkway with me.

I had gotten all of the soldiers that were near me, but the grenade only made contact with one of the soldiers, taking only two of them with him. There was, hopefully, only one left to take out. Cautiously making my way around, I saw that the last Replica that was still alive came out with a different weapon, the Vollmer VK-12 Combat Shotgun.

He opened fire at me, with only some careful dodging to the side saving my life. Before he could reload, I took out my weapon and killed him. My ammo for my rifle was low, so I restocked some more from the dead Replicas and decided to pick up the shotgun the last clone soldier had. There were about 12 shells in the gun, which was about as much as I could carry, so I had to use this wisely in close quarters. I attached it to my left side while still carrying my rifle.

I moved on inside one of the building through a blue door to the side and went down the hall when I stopped. The walkway that lead across to the other side was completely destroyed, with the water completely drained in the pool. I looked to the right and saw another hall with some steps I could go. I stopped when I saw a small radio on a table, with a news reporter - a male probably in his mid 30's - talking through the radio channel.

"According to police, an explosion that leveled a dockside warehouse this evening was most likely the result of an industrial accident. No injuries have been reported, but emergency workers are still on the scene.

From the sound of things, the situation is being contained through "accidents", which I guess sounds better than clone soldiers raiding the harbor. Ignoring it, I opened the door nearby that led back outside. It brought me back out where I faced the Replicas only with a red handle next to some of the machines. It was probably to help control the flow of the water, which might also let me get across in the other room. After turning it as much to the left as I could, I went back all the way to where the room was and saw the water rise up after a while. I slowly went in the water and swam across where I grabbed the rail of the other side and climbed up.

After making it down a little, I saw some more Replicas up ahead on another walkway on the 2nd floor. They were about to make it to the lower floor by going around. Not about to let these guys get the chance I opened fire on about three of them, killing them. There must have been others for one yelled "I need help!" in another room up ahead. I slowly went ahead until I made it to room with some lockers, gas tanks, and cabinets littered around. There were about four more of them up ahead as they opened fire from where I was.

I took cover next to some of the cabinets, and turned around firing back at them with my pistol drawn. I took out about three of them while the last one took cover behind a wall. I activated my reflexes and ran forward to where he was. I turned around the corner and saw him surprised to see me. I quickly grabbed his helmet by the hand and smashed it to the wall next to us. He fell down to the ground writhing in pain as I kicked him in the neck, breaking it. A little brutal, but these guys were getting on my nerves.

I went up ahead and saw another Replica on one of the walkways way above me across some pipes. I shot him in the legs, causing him to go over the rail and fall down to his death. I reloaded my handgun and took out my shotgun just in case if anymore are hiding close. There was a set of double doors up ahead I could use to get out of here. As I made it to the doors, they busted open by some kind of metallic monster crushing them apart in a second.

I had no idea what to make of this thing. It was huge, built with heavy armament all around it. It stood at about 7' feet high, armor-plating shoulder guards, and a metallic helmet with four blue lights coming off from the head. It had some kind of weapon it was carrying and I was not waiting to find out what. I picked up my shotgun and opened fire after this thing. It took all 12 shells of my weapon and only barely flinched to the ground with some blood coming from its armor. Just what the hell is this thing!

I turned around and ran as fast as I could from this thing keeping a lot of distance between us. It stood back up on its feet and started firing at me. But this weren't bullets. They looked more like long spear-like nails coming from the weapon. Whatever they were, I was not going to get hit by this. I hid behind one of the counters and waited till it stopped firing. It gave a monstrous, almost metallic growl as I saw it slowly walk to my position. If this thing could take all those shells, then maybe my best chance was to finish it with my last grenade. As it was getting closer I took out my grenade and left it near where I was sitting down. I ran as far from the grenade as I did as the giant hulking figure just made it to where I was. It looked down as it saw the grenade, with the explosion engulfing this metal monster. It gave off what I had to guess as a dying metallic growl. It fell to the ground dead with the sound of almost a radio going off in it. That was when I heard the sound of one Replica yell "He took out our Heavy Armor!".

So this things are called "Heavy Armors", huh? Fitting name. I made it back to where this Heavy Armor was and saw two more Replicas enter through the destroyed doors investigating. Tired of all this bullshit, I just took out my pistol and shot them down with ease. With my shotgun empty, I tossed it to the ground and looked over to the metal figure I just killed. Intel didn't say anything about these guys, so they must be a new type of Replica troops. Fucking hard to kill, that's what I know for sure. I looked over at its weapon and picked up. It looked like some kind of nail gun, with the description saying "Armacham 10mm HV Penetrator." on the side of it. How did these guys get this from Armacham anyway?

Never minding that, I took the weapon, attached it to my side where the shotgun was and went up ahead from where these guys came from and saw more of them up ahead. They were all running the opposite direction yelling "Fall back!". Are they really retreating, or setting me up a trap? I heard Betters over the comlink saying:

"Shit, looks like these fuckers are pulling out. I'm seeing a substantial mobilization on the satellite."

So these guys must really be retreating, but to where?I followed the soldiers to where they went until I stopped in a large area with some sewer water underneath me. And just as I thought, they were setting me up for an ambush. There were two next to some wooden crates with the third in a control room next to them with stuff blocking the entrance. They started firing at me when I took cover behind some pipes. I looked around from where they were and saw that they were next to a large pipe with lots of gas. Deciding to test out a theory, I shot at with my SMG at one of the pipes as it exploded in flames, covering the two soldiers as they screamed in agony. The other yelled "Oh, shit!" as I opened fire at him through the window, killing him.

I went into the nasty sewage water, seeing as there was no other way to enter the room. I climbed up a small ladder on one side of the place and saw another red handle on a small walkway, with the pipes for the water going through the room. If I turned this handle, I could make it to the control room with the water risen. After turning the handle to the left, the water started to rise, just enough for me to swim over to the open part of the control room. I went into the water and swam over to the other side and climbed up into the small room. Thankfully, none of my gear can get ruined from all this from this crap.

As I made my way into the room, I saw another ladder that lead to another walkway above me. I climbed up to the top and followed the walkway around to more hallways when I stopped at a door at the end. I opened it and took only a few steps forward when my sight was covered in bright white.

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><p>There were two people in front of me. One of them was Paxton Fettel standing up while another was sitting in a chair, his arms tied to the back. He had on a blue button up shirt with black pants and had short brown hair. He looked terrified from where I could see with Fettel standing next to him.<p>

"Where is Alma?" Fettel asked him.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" the man said to him, scared out of his mind.

"Some secrets get buried deeper than others. But I know where to dig." Fettel explained with that menacing voice.

"No, wait! You've got the wrong guy!" the young man shouted, almost stuttering just trying to say that.

"Hush now, Mr. Moody. The time for talk is done." Fettel said with a malicious smile across his face. He leaned closer to this Moody person before everything faded to black.

"Please, no!" was the last thing I heard from Fettel's prisoner.

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><p>I was now back into the room I was in earlier. I wasn't quite sure of what to make of this one. If what I saw indeed happened, then does that mean Fettel is looking for someone? This "Alma" person? Only one way for me to find out. Not wanting to just stand around, I tried to open the door ahead of me. It was blocked off with several supplies on the other side. Cursing the chances of this happening, there was no other way to go. Then I saw another vent holder in the corner of the floor where some more pipes where going. Maybe I could use the pipes to get out of here. After busting open the vent holder, I crouched down next to the pipes and made my way around. Ahead of me, I heard something. It faintly sounded like:<p>

"I'm over here"

Out of nowhere, the girl in red crawled towards me almost like a spider straight out of hell. I drew my weapon quickly out of reflex before she disappeared in front of me, steam from several pipes coming out. I really don't know how much more I can take from all this... Treading carefully, I slowly crawled ahead of the pipes and went around in some of the vents before I found an exit. I knocked off another vent holder and jumped down into a small locker room.

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><p>Reviews? Nah, I don't need any... but if there were any for this chapter then it would be appreciated. Just sayinggggggg<p> 


	5. Bad Water

Now for Chapter 5! I don't know why, but this one for some reason was a little difficult to do. Hope you fans find some enjoyment out of it though :P and I also I forget to mention that I do not own the story of the game or the ideas that the companies had when doing all this. So this also applies to the other chapter to where I forgot to say that, so make sure you remember that!

insert lame joke about "fear" and have a blast!

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><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 03 - ESCALATION**

**BAD WATER**

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><p><strong>The "Point Man"<strong>

I made my way through a locker room and opened a door nearby to a large area of pipes. There was barely enough light coming into this place, so it was a little hard to see, but not enough to need the flashlight. I looked around to see a walkway underneath where I was, and a ladder just several feet from me I could take to get down there. Just as I got on the silver ladder, the little girl stood right there in front of me.

She was just staring at me and laughed before she disappeared into black dust in the air. I almost literally fell off the ladder at that sight. No one would really guess how hard it was for me to put the effort into trying to go down a simple little ladder after seeing something like that. Working up the nerve, I finally was able to climb down to the bottom at the metal walkway. When I turned around, Paxton Fettel was walking towards me. My heart had practically stopped. I opened fire at him only for him to disappear into the air. His voice rang in my head.

"He deserved to die. They all deserved to die."

It was the same thing he said to me after we discovered that Charles Habegger back at that abandoned building. I wasn't sure if these were mere hallucinations or if I'm losing my mind. But no matter what happens, as this team's point man, I will see this mission through to the end. I'll put a bullet through that fucker's head even if it kills me.

I continued on through the metal walkway into a small control room. I entered the hallway nearby and followed it to another room with a giant electric generator to the side of the wall, silver pipes going up into the ceiling. There was a small portable radio on a table nearby with a news broadcast going on. It was a male reporter speaking.

"A devastating explosion in the harbor this evening may not have been an accident. KZZA News has learned that evidence of a fierce gun battle has been found by police investigators. Several bodies were recovered from the scene with bullet and shrapnel wounds. So far, no one is commenting on what exactly what happened here or why."

From the sound of things, the situation is still being suppressed. Although it would be kinda difficult to say that a thousand military clone soldiers have attacked a Sewage Treatment Plant for reasons that even we still are not sure about. It was almost scary to think that the problem has escalated to this point to when this was supposed to be a simple apprehension. I needed to finish this mission before anyone else got hurt or killed.

I exited the room and went through a yellow walkway to the other side of this warehouse. The windows were stained with dirt, several of them even broken and beat-up. Turning to the right, there was a hallway in front of me with a set of stairs leading up. I took the stairs up first to investigate and followed it to another metal walkway. I followed the path around and saw that little girl in a small room ahead of me. She dissipated into black dust before I entered the small office. I entered the closet of this small room that she was standing in front of. There was a puddle of blood on the floor, with some of it dripping down from the vents on the ceiling.

I wasn't sure what would get to me first. Every single time I were to fight a Replica, or how much of the color red I keep seeing today. There was a phone on the wall with a voicemail left over. I pressed play on it with the machine saying "You have one new message. First message from:" she stopped with another voice saying "Iain Hives." He had a deep voice, probably in his mid 30's.

"Hi, Bill, it's Iain Hives. Just got your email. I wish I could give you some more background on this, but it's strictly need to know. Hell, I don't even know what all this is for. For now, just focus on the specific contaminants in the task summary. Maybe I can fill you in a little more once I've completed the survey."

"End of messages" the phone said. I wonder who this Hives guy was. Other people who left voicemails didn't have their names announced, so this Hives guy must be very important here. I'll probably figure that out later. Right now, I need to get back downstairs. After getting back to the bottom, I followed the hallway ahead to where it got a little darker on the other side. There were several blue pipes going down this hallway, eventually leading me to a large generator room, with several of them lined up on the other side from where I was.

That was when I saw someone walk past one of the generators and disappearing. This guy looked similar to that Mr. Moody I saw earlier. Or was this another trick playing through my head? Despite what could or could not happen, the fact of the matter was that I had to go that direction anyway.

There was only a small passage for the sewage water to flow through beneath me, so I followed an entryway I found to my right. Went up some small steps and walked around until I reached the generators. Moving slowly with my SMG ready, I continued forward pass the generators, noticing some dry blood on the floor. I saw that person again walk across from the generator ahead of me to some small steps around the corner. I followed him only to see he was gone. A voice rang into my head.

"There's something in the water."

Ok, I really am losing it. Ignoring what I just heard, I went down the steps and entered this long hallway. Even with the lights on the floor, this place was somehow still dark. Going on ahead, there seemed to be a draft going on, for the lights started moving flailing around. But there are no windows nearby, and even if there were, it couldn't have been that windy to reach here. My breathing getting rough, I moved on to a blue door at the far end. It shut right in front of me. The lights broke one at a time. Not sure if I would regret turning around, I looked back to see that little girl on the other side of the hallway. There was only one light working where she was. My sight was consumed in light.

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><p>I was in another thin hallway. A river of blood was floating above my head, with some dripping down the walls. Footsteps of a child covered in red led towards a room on the far side. Voices in the room ahead of me consisted of either "Breath!" or "Make her push!" with a baby screaming. There was fire on the other side of the window of this door. There was nowhere else to go. But instead of fear that I should've been feeling, my body was more controlled by curiosity. I had to see what was on the other side of the flames. As soon as I had reached other there, a figure came up towards it. The door was then shattered like pieces of glass.<p>

Turning around, I saw another... thing... float towards me. It had the torso of a person, its legs nowhere to be seen and skin pale as a corpse. But what really terrified me about this thing was its face. It had no mouth, no nose, no ears. Only two bright yellow orbs that represented eyes. It was coming towards me with arms stretching out for me. I pulled out my weapon and shot at it with only a couple of bullets before it went away in blue smoke. The little girl was walking on the ceiling of blood, walking towards me. She laughed that childish laugh as though she fought some amusement out of this before she vanished. I went back the way I came to the other door and all went to black.

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><p>Now I was back in the hallway that I had walked through earlier, with the door opening in front of me. Looking back behind me, I saw nothing that like I did before. Just what the fuck is happening to me? The room ahead was a garbage room, with containers of garbage in the middle of this place. I only went ahead a few feet when I heard the sound of a door slam behind me. I looked back and saw that it was indeed the same door I used to get here. I really have no idea what to say about this. I turned around and saw another door up ahead. I tried to open it, only to see through its window that was barricaded by some barrels. There was a shadow of a person on the other side.<p>

Thankfully, there was a vent to my left I could probably use to get in there. I kicked the vent holder off, crouched down, and entered the ventilations. It was only a short trip, for I exited out through another vent holder and jumped down into the room. A flash of a person's face went through my eyes. It looked like that Mr. Moody I saw in that vision with Fettel, only with parts of his face chewed off. Could he be dead? I looked around and saw some steps that led up to the lone light source working. Fettel was walking up to what appeared to be Moody.

"Where is she?" Fettel said.

He then disappeared as well. I went up the steps and cautiously walked up to the person on the chair, whose head was lowered down. He tilted his head up all the back slowly looking up at the ceiling. This was the same guy, that Mr. Moody. His voice was very quiet, obviously from the intense pain of being chewed apart. He whispered quietly to me.

"Alma…"

He brought his hand to reach out for me. I rushed to his side to see if there was anything I could do. Looking at the wounds he had, it didn't look like he was going to make it. Even if Jin was here to help, it would probably not do any good either. This guy didn't deserve a death like this. Moody still tried to reach out to me, only for him to say something quietly.

"If Fettel finds her…" His arm fell to the side. Before he died, he muttered one word.

"Origin…"

Goddammit, why was everyone around me dying? Betters spoke to me over the comlink. "What the hell is he talking about? Who's Alma and what's Origin?" I was at a loss for words over what to say about this. The deeper we got in this mess, the more questionable and out of control this operation started to become. Betters decided to change the subject, most likely cause he didn't want to ponder for too long about what Moody said.

"All right, buddy, get moving. Fettel's gotta be close"

He then signed off the channel. Easier said than done, Betters. The light next to me broke, with Replicas nearby yelling "Hit the lights!". All of the lights in this building turned on, and I heard heavy footsteps approaching my position. Getting ready, I got out my SMG and aimed down the metal walkway on the second floor above me to the right. There was about five of them that showed up, with about three of them opening fire at me. I took cover behind a thick wooden crate next to the locked door to the left. Leaning out, I returned fire at the troops with my unfortunate luck of getting three out of the five of them.

They took cover next to the wall where they were at and waited for me to reload before they tried to shoot me down. Taking cover again, I was getting sick of this. Kicking in my heightened reflexes, I went back out and shot down the troops as they tried to follow my movements. Then, the door to my left busted open with an explosion with two more Replicas with shotguns looking for me. It was literally at the last second that I killed them with my weapon as they were about to gun me down.

These bastards were becoming more strategic. I wonder how many more of them are up ahead. With my SMG out of ammo, I tossed it to the side and brought out the HV Penetrator I took from the Heavy Armor from earlier. Time to see how well this will do against them. This weapon had a small display on it, saying "25/25", probably on how much ammo was in this and how much it could carry. Convenient. With caution, I went through the destroyed door where the Replicas came from and followed it down a hallway around the corner, with a dead maintenance worker on the ground at the end. Another Replica was just about to turn around the corner when I shot him with the Penetrator.

The nails literally took the Replica straight to the wall ahead, pinning him against the wall with where I shot him on his chest and arm. I was really glad that this didn't happen to me earlier. I followed path from where he came from and found myself in another small room with cabinets. The door to the right led to a bigger hall, where about three more Replicas where, waiting for me. Two were on the floor across the windows in this room with another on a small balcony on the second floor. They opened fire at me just as they noticed me, with luckily my sorry ass taking cover by the wall. Remembering that I still had one grenade left, I grabbed it from my belt and tossed it back towards the squad ahead.

And bing-bang-boom, the explosion went off and I heard the death cries of about two of the soldiers. I went back out and fired another nail from the weapon to the dazed soldier, killing him. Looking back on the display, it said 19/25, which meant I still had enough for about probably 5-7 Replicas to finish. Then after that, I'll have to take one of their rifles when I'm done with this. I went out to the hall and saw that three more Replicas where entering the room with a stairwell on the other side. One of them threw a grenade as the other two took cover up the stairs by the rails. Not wanting to let them surprise if I took cover, I ran as fast as I could to where they were. The grenade flew past my head to where I was and went off behind me. The squad looked over only to see me running and firing at them. I got all three of the bastards with about 10 nails as they lined up on the wall.

Taking one of their rifles and some ammo, I put the Penetrator back to my side tied up and had the G2A2 drawn out. Even though it didn't have much ammo, besides the pistol, it was a good spare weapon to have. I made my way up through the stairs and went pass a couple of rooms when I ended up in another large room, with about six generators centered here. One of the Replicas from the other side said "Search everywhere!" with him opening the door with about two more troops. The two behind him looked different from the others I faced to this point. They had the same uniform set up as the others, only they were in all black instead of the camouflage pattern. And their helmets were all black, with red visors covering their face. Their weapons were still the same as before, so it is not as though they could be a higher rank. But one of them did have an HV Penetrator as their prime weapon, so I think I could swipe that weapon from him after he is dealt with.

Aiming with my rifle, I shot all of them down as they were heading down some steps from where they came from. The poor bastards didn't even see me coming. Running up to their dead bodies, I pilfered a couple grenades and ammo for the Penetrator and tucked them away for later use. I went into the room they came out from, with a hallway leading around a corner and another room up ahead. It only led to the balcony that one of the Replicas was at, so it was a dead end. Going down the small hallway, I ended up at the metal walkway that overlooked Moody's corpse. Two Replicas entered from the door ahead of me to the left and opened fire at me. I ran forward taking cover next to the wall where around the corner they were at.

Since these guys mean business, I'll have to take them out quickly. With my reflexes, I turned around to the hall they were at and killed them with my rifle before they could fire back at me. Two more came out from the room ahead, this time carrying those combat shotguns. Before they could get close enough, running like a cat out of hell, I went up to them and blasted them with my rifle at their chest and heads. Their dead bodies fell to the ground, my body shaking from the combat high. I relaxed for several seconds before my nerves were settled and my mind calm.

I really hope there aren't that many left to face, because I really need a break. Moving ahead, I entered the hallway through the door the soldiers came from and followed it around to a dead end, with a door above me but out of reach. Thankfully though, there were a set of pipes on the wall that led to somewhere, with just enough room for me to crouch through. I followed the pipes with them leading me to a small room with a metal walkway over some water that led to another area. I dropped down and readied myself for anything that might come my way...

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><p>Psstttt, reviews would be awesome. Psst, how's the writing? Terrible I bet, tell that DMC Maniac guy to write better stuff<p>

XD


	6. Exeunt Omnes

Alright, Chapter 6! This is the end of Interval 03 (finally!) and the last chapter the Point Man is spending time at some boring old sewers. What is it with games and sewage? Trying to say something 'bout them? XD Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, "exeunt omnes" is Latin, meaning "All go out." It's like a stage direction used in plays. But you're not here to figure out title meanings, right? haha

Will the main character make it through an army of Replicas and fucked up stuff? I guess you'll find out! Oh yeah, and I do not own Monolith's story. I only write my interpretation of them, nothing more :P

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><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 03 - ESCALATION**

**EXEUNT OMNES**

* * *

><p><em><strong>The "Point Man"<strong>_

From where I was, it looked like just another pipe room. This must've been another area that the workers probably go to investigate if there were any problems. Den Mother got a hold of our channel and was talking to Betters.

"Tomcat, this is Den Mother. I know you guys are hurting, but we could really use your help with this Armacham situation." Man, was Fettel's forces really giving Delta Force that much trouble over there?

"I just lost contact with my recon team and the brass wants me to send in more men, which I'm reluctant to do until I know what we're dealing with in there." Den Mother explained.

"My orders are to secure this guy Fettel. Getting rid of him will break his telepathic link to the soldiers. Once they no longer have an objective, they should shut down." Betters told him.

"That sure would be nice." Den Mother replied.

"Tell you what. Can you spare a chopper? We're seeing what looks like a full-scale withdrawal. My gut tells me Fettel's on his way to Armacham, so maybe we can help each other out." Betters said. If that is the case, then that will make things more difficult to track him. On the other hand, at least there we'll have reinforcements to help out.

"Can do." Den Mother told him before they signed off.

To be honest, if I could stop Fettel now then we wouldn't have to worry about fighting the Replicas at all. However, if we really have to go to Armacham Corporation, then I guess we have no choice. Moving through the walkway, I went on ahead to another room with more machines around. There was a ladder that led up that I could use, with some thick pipes leading up as well.

As I made my way up, I saw a Replica through the pipes. He didn't notice me, so thankfully he didn't attack me. I stopped for a moment to spy on him to see what he was doing. He kneeled down and put something on the ground. He went up ahead in the hall and placed another object on the floor. He got back up and walked away down a set of stairs in the room. I continued to climb up and found myself in a another generator room. I went around several more walkways and found myself in the room the soldier was at.

I walked up to where the Replica was and looked down at where he was kneeling down. Right there, I realized my mistake. This wasn't just some flat object. It was a proximity mine! As the sound of it when off, I jumped back as quick as I could before the explosion went off. And thank God it didn't kill me, for the explosion was so dangerous it triggered the next one up ahead. But unfortunately for me, the explosion made the electricity in the hall go crazy. It filled the middle of the room blocking the way.

I would need to find another way around. Luckily though, there was a vent holder on the left side of the room that led to another walkway at the room on the left. The door by the wall was barricaded on the other side, but there was a ladder that led down I could use. Before I went down, Betters spoke to me and Jin over the radio saying: "Shit, I just lost Jankowski's signal."

Jin spoke to him saying "Maybe his gear got damaged."

"Maybe…" he said quietly.

All this time since we've got here, Jankowski was the one I've been worried about the most. We haven't been able to make contact with him over the last hour or so, and I can't tell HQ that I'm seeing visions of him with his eyes plucked out. They'll think I'm gonna crack under the pressure. Jin then told Betters "The fire and rescue guys are here. Once they've got the fire under control, we can check the rubble."

"Let them handle it. I need you on standby to head inside Armacham as soon as the site is secure." Betters told her.

"Roger" Jin finished as the line went off. At least two of us from the F.E.A.R. unit will be at Armacham instead of just myself.

After going down the ladder, I made my way from what it looks like some passageways for the sewage water to travel through. Up ahead was another generator room to the left and right above me. But I couldn't figure out a way up there, so I just moved on through the passage. That was when I saw someone or something just jump off from one of the generators into the water. It disappeared instantly before it reached the water, with quick footsteps going away from where I was standing. It took me a minute to work up the nerve to go ahead, hoping that nothing was gonna just randomly show up.

Making my way through the end of the sewer tunnels, I found myself in what looked like a small sewage pump control room. Before I could look around some more, the sound of a Replica up ahead got my attention. He spoke "Squad, on me. Move out." There was about three of them in another tunnel on the other side of the room. They didn't notice me yet, so I took advantage of this and opened fire at them with my rifle. Two of them were down while the third took cover up ahead. Following him, I took cover by the wall next to me before I peeked out. I could see him crouched down next to some pipes over a small pool of water, but his head was sticking out. Taking out my pistol for a moment, I aimed carefully and shot a bullet through the visor of his helmet, killing him.

From where the dead Replica was, there was a ladder that lead up to another room. Climbing up, I somehow seemed to find my way in the room where the electricity was going off. But fortunately, I was on the other side of the electric currents. I noticed that there was a power conductor on the wall next to me with the lever tilted up. Maybe I could shut off the power to the electricity. Tilting it down, the lights went off for this room, and the electric current died down. There was a small room with some steps where the lightning was covering that now I could enter. After opening the door, I found some more ammo for my handgun and G2A2 rifle on a table. Also, there was another laptop on a table that was on with some documents opened up. I forwarded the info to Betters to see what he could make of all this. "All right, it's uploading." He said as the documents where being transferred.

"Remember that wastewater report I mentioned? There's a little more info here. The contamination seems to originate in the Auburn area. That place is practically deserted nowadays. Probably not a coincidence." Betters told me.

He was right, the Auburn district area of this city has been deserted for quite some time. Mainly because of not enough funds to renovate all the buildings in the area. From what I heard, there was a large amount of problem with money over there because of some corrupt politicians taking money from the people. After a while, the town decided to work on it later and figure out a solution for the place. So far, there hasn't been any effort to fix that area back up. I wonder why the wastewater seems to be coming from a district that nobody should be living in.

Continuing on, I entered a hallway with some locked fence doors to the north and east of me. The one on the right though had a lock I could shoot to break it open. After doing that, I made my way around some pipes until it lead me to a small camera room. Curiously, there was some kind of rifle leaning on a counter. Picking it up, I read the description on the side and it described "BAKSHA ASP Rifle 7.62 mm". I've heard of this before. They're a semi-automatic rifle that fired in 3-shot bursts, but had the scope of a sniper rifle. This might actually become useful, although I'm very limited with weapons to be carrying anymore. Decisions, decisions...

Figuring better safe than sorry, maybe it was better not to question my luck and take the ASP rifle and discard the G2A2. It was kind of light, only carrying about 30 bullets. But the bullets that do make contact with the enemy are sure to kill them quickly. Praising my luck some more, I found a couple of different grenades on a table near the TV monitors. These were M77 Remote bombs, with a detonator switch next to them. Ideal for traps, these are sure to come in handy in the near future. Taking some, I exited out through the previously locked door and found myself back out the hall I was at before. There was another set of stairs that led down I could use. Before I reached the bottom, the sound of Replica activity caught my attention.

"Command, we've lost contact with the search team."

"Copy, I'm sending in reinforcements. You need to hold that position until the evac is complete."

"Understood" the Replicas finished over their radio.

Shit, that's what I need is more of their damn reinforcements. Deciding to take out this placed squad here and now, I went down and opened fire at about four of them through the glass window in the room ahead. Lucky me, I got them all after firing 12 bullets with the ASP, three for each of them. With 18 bullets left, I decided to keep this until I ran out and would have to switch out with one of the Replicas SMG's. Making my way through the room the Replicas where waiting at, I continued on to the end of this part of the warehouse, with a set of double doors that led outside. There was another warehouse to the north of me I could enter through some doors on a metal walkway by taking the stairs. But first, I went downstairs to make sure there weren't any more of these freaks. There weren't any, but there was ammo for the ASP on a bench. I guess I'm not getting rid of this weapon yet.

But before I opened the doors, I noticed about two more of soldiers up ahead, one on ground level and another on the walkway next to the warehouse. Aiming down my sights with the rifle, it made it only too easy to shoot them both down. There weren't any more, so I made it outside and was reaching for the stairs that connected to the walkway. The sound of a military chopper took my interest as I looked up and saw it was definitely not one of ours. It had the logo of the Replica forces and was hovering over the walkway I was walking up to. A couple rappel lines came from the sides of the chopper, with three of the soldiers coming down the lines.

These bastards actually couldn't have picked a better spot to drop down, actually. There was a canister of gasoline near where they just dropped down. Taking the shot, I fired at the container. It blew up into an explosion of flames, engulfing the whole squad. They died within seconds as the chopper flew away into an unknown destination. The double doors blew open as three more Replicas came outside. Their gunfire would've killed me if I hadn't fallen on the stairs on my back behind. It was painful going down, but at least I'm not dead.

Remembering I still had one of those remote bombs, I reached for it and threw it over to where they where as quickly as I could. Pressing the detonator to my side, the bomb went off, killing the Replicas as they died screaming. I really can't wait for this day to be over. Standing up on my own two feet, it took me a few seconds to work through the pain and go back up the stairs. Entering the warehouse, I only made it through a couple halls when I heard another Replica up ahead say "In position."

"Wait for my signal" one of them said.

"I thought I heard something…"

"Quiet down" the other said as silence filled the room up ahead.

It was obvious that they're setting up an ambush up ahead. There was no other way to enter the room however, so I could only really go forward. Entering the room slowly, the place was filled with supplies littered across the floor, large containers in the center, and a yellow walkway that led upstairs to a set of doors. The Replicas came out of cover from a wall and opened fire at me. I hid behind one of the containers until they stopped. Peeking out for a second, my reflexes were heightened to the point of where I could surprise them. There were four up ahead, two of them coming down the walkway trying to get the jump on me. Quickly, I opened fire at them before they could retaliate.

I took cover by the wall next to the walkway, as the remaining Replicas yelled out "Get him!". With my reflexes still on, I slid to the side firing the rest of the rounds of my weapon into their chests, killing them. And to think, this whole day and I only got bullet that grazed my arm much earlier today. For now, I'm just gonna keep it that way. Getting back up, I walked up and around the bodies. As soon as I thought I had time to calm down, the doors just burst open. And son of a bitch, it was another one of those "Heavy Armor" things. With barely any time to distract it, I just tossed one of my spare grenades to the wall next to it, the explosion barely dazing this thing.

Running back down the walkway, I kept my sights on the Heavy Armor as it was regaining its composure. That was when I remembered I still had the Penetrator at my side. Taking it out and putting aside the ASP, I fired the weapon towards the Heavy. Even though the nails pierced its chest, it still took the whole clip to send this thing before it backed up to the wall. And with all those nails in this thing, it still tried to aim at me with its weapon. This guy sure is determined to kill me. I reloaded the Penetrator with the remaining ammo I had left and fired one last nail at its head. It died while still giving out that radio signal as the last one did.

There were two more Replicas hiding out in the hall behind where the Heavy Armor came from. They were both taking cover waiting for the chance to get me. Even after all the soldiers I just killed, plus that big guy too. I would've thought they had some common sense to back away and regroup with more of their forces. That was when I remembered what Betters said about these guys. They do what they're told to do, and will follow them even it is to their deaths. That's how they are programmed. And even if they knew they stood no chance, they would rather die fighting then back away. Talk about loyalty. Running up to them, I finished them off in their surprise with several nails to chest from the Penetrator. I restocked some ammo from the Heavy Armor and tossed the ASP for their SMG's, since I was out of ammo for the rifle anyway.

Moving through some of the hallways, I stopped for a moment when I heard someone over my radio saying "Tomcat, this is Dust Seven. I heard somebody needed a ride. Got an HLZ for me yet?". It sounded like one of the pilots for Delta Squad that Den Mother was sending for me. To be honest, I really couldn't wait to get out of this fucking place.

"I'm showing a decent-sized yard just ahead of my point man's current position. Only problem is there's an enemy gunship sitting there at the moment. I'll keep you advised." Betters told the pilot.

"Roger" the pilot said as the line went off. Moving through the hall down some more stairs, I ended up in another room with some cabinets and paperwork thrown to the ground. There was a door here that led out to another hallway with vending machines tipped over, pop cans and snack bags littered across the floor. I continued on through the hall when I heard the sound of a chopper up ahead, coming from outside. There was a door barricaded at one end of the hall, but I could look through the window outside. There was indeed an enemy chopper on the ground, getting ready for takeoff. I saw Paxton Fettel outside with a group of Replicas, and it looked like he was giving them some new orders before he turned around towards the chopper.

Going on through the remainder of this place, I stopped at a small office with no doors leading out. However, there was a window I could break to get outside. With the noise of the chopper, I could get outside easily without the Replicas noticing. After going throw the destroyed window, I took cover by the building on the side and looked out to see the chopper now leaving. There were about seven Replicas left on the ground, a few of them by some crates and trucks. Once I take them out, the LZ will be clear for my ride out of here.

However, an armored military vehicle entered the area and stopped near the entrance. Two Replicas and another Heavy Armor came out from the back, the driver as well. Great, 10 Replicas and one Heavy Armor to take out before I can leave. And here I was hoping this would be easy. Checking my inventory, all I had was the Penetrator with 14 shots, an SMG with two mags, my AT-14 pistol full, 1 grenade, and 1 more remote grenade. Well, if all this doesn't cut it... I can always hope that the rest of them run away instead.

Three of them were grouped together looking around, another two to the left of them, two more hidden by a crate near the others, while the last two Replicas and Heavy still by the van. Taking out one grenade with my left hand and the SMG with my right, I took a long, deep breath. When I was ready, I threw the grenade over to the group of three Replicas and opened fire at the two to the left. The ones on the left died first, and because the Replicas were so surprised from the gunfire they didn't have time to notice the grenade go off by their feet. In just a few seconds, I took out five Replicas. Off to a good start.

The remaining soldiers were running up to where I was with the Heavy still by the van. Turning on my reflexes, I ran up to the larger crate up ahead firing at the squad. I only got about two of them, as the other half took cover by the trucks. They started shooting at me with some of their bullets, one grazing my left arm. Tolerating the pain for now, I reloaded my weapon and tried to consider my options. Only two Replicas left and the Heavy Armor, which was still by the van. He's probably waiting for me to expose myself again before he could get a good shot at me. It would only take one shot from that Penetrator of his to kill me.

With my last remote bomb, I tossed it over to the last Replicas and pressed it the switch. I watched as body parts flew into the air with blood covering the front of the truck. Now that just takes care of the Heavy. And speaking of that tall freak, he opened fire at me where I was, with only some careful dodging saving my ass. Only one mag and about 14 nails left in the Penetrator, I had to make these count. My reflexes heightened once more, I ran out quickly firing the remainder of my SMG into the thing. He, too, was firing at me, only my speed was keeping me from getting mauled by him.

I'd like to say that all the bullets connected. But while running from this guy, I'd have to say only half of the rounds hit him while the others missed. With only the Penetrator left to even kill this thing, I took cover before I tossed my empty gun away. My weapon ready, I took another deep breath. Running out past the crate my back was, I ran out to the open getting closer to the Heavy, this time making sure everything I fire at this bastard does not miss. Firing every single needle, all of them connected to this thing. He was still standing, but just barely.

What the fuck, man! That should've been enough! I had nothing left to use on him but my handgun. Without hesitation, I brought it out quickly and fired everything I had in that one magazine into that monster's chest. He was bringing up his own weapon, his arm bleeding from the effort, despite all the shots that connected. He was still alive. Where I was he could kill me from this distance, and I was too exhausted to run anymore, my breath almost literally gone.

However, for a split second, I noticed I was standing over a dead Replica, his hand still clutching a G2A2 rifle. Quickly, I jumped down to his body. Grabbed the rifle from his dead hands. And I fired all the bullets in it at the Heavy that were left in the gun. And my God... it finished him off. It gave out that monsterish scream like the others as it died, hitting the ground with a loud thud. I'm definitely going to demand a big paycheck when this is over. Betters then got a hold of me informing me of the chopper.

"Looks like the HLZ is clear."

"Copy, I'm on approach" the pilot told us.

"Keep your eyes open for that Black Hawk." Betters explained.

I looked up to the sky to where the sound of a chopper was coming. It was indeed the same kind of helicopter that brought us here to the harbor earlier today. It was hovering above me getting ready to land. I could restock inside the chopper and get myself some new body armor. The one I had smelled really bad .

"Good. Head to ATC headquarters and find Fettel." Betters said as I was ready to board the helicopter. It was time to head for Armacham Technology Corporation...

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><p>"Get to the chopper!" Haha, like I said a million times, reviews would be cool please :)<p> 


	7. LZ is Hot

Okay-dokey, fellow readers. Finally onto Chapter 7! This one is definitely one of the shortest ones this story will get. In all honesty, besides a few more gun battles, nothing too exciting happens. But the next one coming up after this will definitely be more interesting =D And oh yeah, I don't own anything belonging to Monolith. So stop pestering me about it, guys! Gosh!

E-E-E-E-E-ENJOY!

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><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 04 - INFILTRATION**

**LZ IS HOT**

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><p><strong><em>The "Point Man"<em>**

We were now on our way to Armacham HQ. Along the way, I got refitted with more ammo and new body armor. The Black Hawk I was sitting inside of was flying over the city of Fairport, the small lakes and city lights giving it a sense of beauty. It's not that often you get the chance to fly over a marvel such as this. The two Delta Force operatives that were accompanying me were standing up on the chopper, their SMG's ready for when we land. They seemed pretty anxious to get on the battlefield, for all they talked about along the ride was how many "test tube freaks" they'd take down by the end of the day. At least I know they won't be bored. Betters spoke to Den Mother over the radio.

"Den Mother, what can you tell us about your recon team?"

"We were monitoring them on the security network when we lost contact. Now the entire system is offline." Hmm, sounded like the forces shut down all the networking inside to prevent contact from inside." Den Mother elaborated on.

"Any news on the bad guys?" Betters asked.

"We know they hit the main building shortly before 5 pm. No estimate on enemy strength, but we should assume it's a sizable force." Den Mother explained.

"Hostages?" Betters replied back.

"Undetermined" Den Mother told him.

"But no demands?" Betters said curiously.

"Not as far as I know" Den Mother ended as the line went off. This whole rebellion doesn't make any sense. If they aren't making any demands, then what the hell was the point of this whole invasion? I already know that they aren't after space technology, and it doesn't seem like they want anyone alive as far as I could tell. Guess we'll just have to figure it out when we get there.

We were about to reach Armacham soon. One of the pilots said "Dust Seven on final" with Den Mother replying back "Copy, Dust Seven. Do you have a visual?" "Roger that" the pilot told him as we were only quarter of a mile left. "Going dark" he told us, which meant that we were about to get over the LZ in a couple seconds. We all checked our weapons and ammunition as we were getting ready for the battle to come.

"Man, I live for this shit!" one of the Delta's yelled out.

"Keep your dick in your pants!" one of the pilots yelled back at him.

We were now over one of the HLZ platforms. And almost immediately, we were being shot at by Replica forces waiting for us. It was only a few seconds as we were about to land that both of the Delta Force members with me were shot down, their bodies falling to the ground. "We've got contact!" "We've got two men down! Repeat, LZ is hot!" the pilots yelled out as I jumped down to the ground, lucky that I wasn't killed as well.

Taking cover by some barrels nearby, I looked up ahead to see a set of double doors that led to a small office. There were about two Replicas firing at me, another one just below the pad near some ventilation fans for the building. Betters got a hold of Den Mother telling him "Den Mother, can you get him some backup?" "I don't have any available elements." he told him with Betters cursing out "Son of a bitch!". He had no idea how right he was. It was as if life itself was giving me the finger.

Cursing my shitty luck for the last time, I put my focus back to the task at hand... which was surviving. I saw one soldier to the far left who was coming up to the landing zone with a set of stairs. I aimed down my sights with my rifle and headshot him before he even knew I was there. But that still left the bastards inside the office. Taking a peak out from the barrels, I saw that the both of them were still inside waiting for me. Timing it just right, I threw over a grenade which broke the glass doors and landed at their feet. Yelling "Oh shit!" they tried to get some cover, only for an explosion blowing off their chests and arms. Pretty graphic, looking at it from here.

But I wasn't out of the woods yet. There was more gunfire down underneath the vent shafts where about three more Replicas showed up. They must've came from the maintenance rooms that led to the rooftop. Seeing how my odds were pretty favorable from where I was at, I hopped down next to the vent shafts near the Replicas - surprising them - and killed them all while raining gunfire down from above. Only one of them was barely alive after my whole "gung-ho" action sequence, but just barely. He was on his knees attempting to bring his weapon up to kill me before I put him down with the last bullet remaining in my G2A2 clip. That was for my Delta Force backup, you bastards.

After reloading, I went inside where I seemed to have ended up in set of hallways, some machinery to the right, and a big fan to the left spinning. Betters got a hold of me saying "Still no word on Jankowski. It's like he just vanished." Hearing that made me tense up a little. If what I saw really was true, then Jankowski might be dead. But if he was, then they would know right away, right? "The weird thing is that the bodies of the Delta Team he was with are all accounted for." Betters said before he signed off.

As much as I'd like to tell Betters, Jin, and Delta what had happened today, there was a part of me telling myself it was a stupid idea. I mean, how would I explain to them that a little 8 year old girl in a red dress burned everyone alive by just looking at them? And that she's been fucking with me since we started looking for Fettel. I don't have any proof of who or what she is. And even if I did, how do I know how much of this is in my head? They said Fettel is a psychic, so maybe he's making me see things. And only me...

Whatever my suspicions were, they had to be put aside for now. Making my way through more of the hallways and machinery, I stopped for a second when I heard Replicas talk up ahead. "We've lost contact with the roof. Can you confirm if there's been a breach?" "Unknown. We're checking it out." they finished. This makes it easier to sneak up on these guys. And from where I was, there were a few good hiding places in the dark corners of these halls. Looking up ahead, they where two of them coming up some metal stairs. They hadn't noticed me yet, but it was still too risky to start a gun battle in these tight corners. I guess I will have to make use of the darkness.

Waiting for about 10-15 seconds, they came up the walkway and were going the direction I came from. They had just passed me when I snuck up at the Replica at the back and broke his neck. The other heard the bones break when he turned around with his rifle aimed at me. Kicking in my reflexes once again, I took the Replicas side-arm and shot him several times the chest. "It was over there!" a Replica downstairs said. It sounded directly below me, and I assumed they wouldn't head over to where I was if they expected their teammates dead. Which means I would have to take the offensive.

I ran down the stairs up ahead, and got my rifle ready for the battle. There were three of them, two by some kind of engine, and one more by an power outlet on the wall. Going after the one in back, I shot a single bullet to the power outlet, causing it to explode and take out the Replica next to it. The others were caught with surprise, but regained their composures quickly and opened fire at my position. From where I was, I could shoot in between parts of the machinery where they were. Aiming carefully, I opened fire at them with no chance for them to stop me from where they were.

It sounded like their were still more Replicas in another room up ahead. Moving ahead carefully I stopped when three more were waiting for me to turn around the corner. Activating my reflexes, I went around and opened fire at all of them, with only my bullets taking out one of them while the other two hid behind a pillar. Running as fast as I could, I surprised them by showing up right in from of them and firing at their chests, killing them. I wasn't sure what it was propelling me head-first into action, but I guess it was because I wanted this mission over quickly before more of our people died.

Continuing onward, I stopped when the door nearby led back outside. There was a Replica by some stairs up ahead with a combat shotgun near where I standing. He hadn't noticed me, so I took him out with my rifle. After reloading, there was more enemy chatter on the radio yelling "He's out on the roof!" Rushing outside, but still keeping my guard up, I took cover by more ventilation systems out on the roof. They must've seen me, for gunfire followed my feet as I took cover, my back to the machine. Either they were on ground level, or on the metal balcony right above.

I could hear the footsteps of three Replicas on the ground slowly walking towards my position. Deciding that tricking them was the safest course of action, I pulled out my pistol, put it to the ground, and slid it over to my right. Taking a gamble, I ran out to the left, my rifle ready with both arms. I aimed down at the three Replicas who were distracted for a split second from my pistol. They were dead within seconds with not many bullets going through their heads. Calming my senses down, I then retrieved my pistol that I tossed to the side.

There was a staircase that lead up to more ventilation machines and the metal balcony. Another Replica came outside from another part of the roof up ahead, possibly checking out what had happened. I quickly finished him off with the remaining bullets of my rifle. After I reloaded, I acquired some ammo and a couple grenades from some soldiers, and then continued on. I was in what appeared to be in a generator room, with several support pillars in the middle. A small set of stairs were in front of me that probably lead closer to where I can enter Armacham. Problem was, there were still three more Replica soldiers coming my way. They must have been backup, stationed up ahead with another squad most likely. Remembering I still had a few grenades, I held on to one long enough where when I threw it, it went off taking all three of them.

I went pass all the destruction of the room up the set of stairs waiting for me. Moving past a fan on the right side of the hall, gleaming with an orange light, I stopped for a moment after hearing "Down here." Taking cover once again by some more machinery a couple feet in front of me, I peeked out to see two Replicas coming down from some stairs that led back up to the roof. They must be the last of the squad, for they were in quite a rush to locate me. Wanting to end this quick, I pulled out my pistol, my reflexes as heightened as needed, and shot them both down in a single stream of gunfire.

Going past their bodies, a thought occurred to me. How was it that in just a whole day I became trained to kill only for self-defense, to now going around killing in cold blood? Maybe it was made easier because in the back of my mind, these were not "people." Just clones, created in a lab to fight and receive orders. However, maybe they still had some free will and could've chosen a normal life. Fettel was controlling them with just his thoughts to murder innocent civilians and workers. So I guess that for now, taking their "lives" was needed for the greater good. All of that was put aside when I heard Betters over the comlink.

"What the hell? I'm picking up Jankowski in that general area. How the fuck did he get all the way here?"

That didn't make sense. Even if he was alive, without a chopper he wouldn't be able to get here so quickly. My thoughts traced back to earlier today. That "Jankowski" I kept seeing earlier began to haunt my mind. And even for a moment that I were to believe that were true that he was dead, Betters wouldn't be able to pick up his life signs. Continuing on, I stopped for a moment to see "Jankowski" peek around the corner looking at me. The black holes of where his eyes used to be made a chill go through my bones as he muttered:

"You don't even know who you are."

Jankowski disappeared again into thin air, black dust withering away where he was. Jesus Christ, all of this was starting to give me a headache. I wish I had some damn Tylenol and could go home. But not everyone gets what they want. Putting aside what I saw, I hurried on stair after stair, hallway after hallway. I stopped when the path lead back outside on the roof on an upper floor, as well as the gunfire that almost got me. Backing up back into the hallway, I waited for the moment for them to stop shooting at me. I was trapped, and the only way out was get back out there. What a toughie.

With one of my spare grenades I picked up earlier, I threw it out to where the gunfire was at. The Replicas yelled "Look out, grenade!" with an explosion soon after. I peeked out to see that two of them died right after with the other half trying to get back on their feet. Finishing the job, I aimed down my sights with the rifle and killed them. From up here, there weren't anymore of the soldiers. I followed the stairs going down to ground level. There were no doors at the side of the building, but there was an open spot where a glass window used to be that I can jump down into the building.

Climbing down carefully, I began my infiltration into Armacham HQ...

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><p>Hmmmmm, well the main character like what he finds inside? One way to find out... by waiting a few more days for me to update the story again. HAHA =D Like I've said a million times, reviews would be cool. For this story, I mean :P<p> 


	8. Watchers

Alrighty, Chapter 8! This one is without a doubt one of the LONGEST chapters I will ever produce. But that's cause so much interesting stuff happens in this one. =D It's got some of my favorite parts of the actual game here which sure freaked me out first time I played this through. Hope you guys enjoy this one, for it took a lot of hard work to put it all in this way that I, alone, have done it! Ok, now I'll stop bragging. Oh yeah, I don't own the F.E.A.R. series. It would be sweet, though, if I did.

Have fun!

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><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 04 - INFILTRATION**

**WATCHERS**

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><p><strong><em>The "Point Man"<em>**

From where I was, I appeared to be in a large waiting room of some kind with barely any lights on. There were several chairs lounged around, small traces of blood scattered across the carpeting with no bodies I could see. Several security shutters were in place, one of them malfunctioning by going up a foot and back down slowly. With no way to open them, I had to locate another way around.

"The ATC network is offline. I need you to find the server hub and reset it so I can get into the system. It should give us a better idea of what's going on in there." Betters said.

With my objective clear, I just had to figure out where to find this server was. A door at the end of a hallway wouldn't open, probably with stuff leaning against it from the other side. However, I did find a desk counter that I could hop over. Bullet holes on the walls, with papers and phones littered on the floor. A light bulb over the counter suddenly broke, almost causing me to jump. Turning on my flashlight, I looked around to see that there was a door right here, only it was completely destroyed, possibly due to an explosive charge. Going past it, I ended up in another room with several cabinets.

There was a stairway on the other end of the room I could take. Before I went down, I saw a flashing blue light from the corner of the room that the stairs led to. Cautiously moving forward, I stopped when I saw that there was a large screen showing images of a satellite. It appeared to be an auditorium, for there were a podium directly in front of the large screen and several chairs built to the floor. The only light working was the images coming off from the widescreen, with a recorded voice speaking over the speakers in the ceiling in a low, quiet tone. The projector on the ceiling was slightly broken, for it was tilted to the side causing the images to be a little disorganized.

Moving on, I stopped when I noticed a set of double doors and a dead body by them, belonging to what might've been ATC Security. This poor guy was shot to hell, bullet holes scattered everywhere leaving a pile of blood. There were even handprints covered in blood on the wall, possibly trying to get away from his attackers. He was in front of the logo of Armacham, which consisted of three diamonds tied together side by side, and a small dot placed in the center of the middle diamond.

Leaving the dead body behind, I opened the doors carefully to a wide hallway, with thick stained glasses on a wall placed in the center from here to the far right. Barely any of the lights were working, which left me to still require the use of my flashlight. That was when I heard a small yell of a man behind the glass windows. I saw the individual run to the left as fast as he could to a door that was opened. I tried to get his attention, only for him to still run off. He went into the room and closed the door quickly behind, with the sound of objects falling from the other side. Whoever it was, he didn't look like he was with Fettel and his soldiers, or belong to security here. Maybe it was a civilian?

I went down the other part of the hallway where the man ran off to. As I thought, the door was barricaded on the other side, preventing me from following him. Sighing in disappointment, I turned off the flashlight and turned back around to find another way out of this place. With another shutter preventing me from going down one area, I saw that their was another hallway around the corner to the right that might lead somewhere. I went down to see another hallway with soft glass walls to the left that led to a meeting room and another set of the thick glass windows. also with small packets of blood on the floor. As I moved forward, some of the tiles on the ceiling started to fall down, the sound of running footsteps above me. Blue electricity was by the door at the end of the hallway, ending with the door slamming shut quickly.

My mind was puzzled over what happened. It didn't help that a good portion of lights just went off in an instant, either. This blue electricity I saw was similar to the warehouses at the docks where we started chasing Fettel. Could there have been a connection?

Treading slowly, I went down to the end of the hall, while noticing to the right there was another set of double doors behind a wall with more of the thick glass. I was at the door, my hand placed on my weapon and the other on the knob. As quickly as I could, I opened the door and looked around the small room to see that there was nothing but garbage bags and a cabinet. There was nothing here. I turned around to continue on, and froze when I saw Paxton Fettel behind the glass walking slowly to the doors.

"Stay out of my way."

That was he said before he disappeared. Fuck, I just missed him. But where did he come from? Or was it really him? Maybe this search is causing my brain to imagine that he is right there, so I can put the son of a bitch down. Hopefully that will be soon. I followed where I "saw" Fettel down the hall and opened the doors to find a meeting room. There was another body of a dead ATC guard in the middle of the table with blood beneath him. More tiles from the ceiling came down, causing me to jump up in surprise. Is there something moving above me? Collecting my thoughts, I saw a laptop that was still working by the dead body with some documents pulled up. I accessed the information and sent it all to Betters with him responding "The data's uploading."

"There's a reference to something called "Icarus." Says here that it was a bioengineering program that started in 1973. Something about health issues to microgravity. Loss of muscle mass, bone density, shit like that."

Never heard of something like that. Made me wonder if the information was talked about during one of the meetings. Whatever their reasons, it was none of my concern at the moment. I opened the door by the table up ahead and saw that I was on the other side of the malfunctioning gate that I saw earlier. I guess that counts for some progress. There was a small office in front of me with another dead guard, as well as an intersection to the left of where I was. By the far end of the hallway lead to to two rooms, one another office that was empty and no power and the other that probably lead to another meeting room. Nothing in the office and the door for the hallway was locked, so I went the other way down another hall. Walking slowly down the hall, I stopped in fear when a body flew across the meeting room to the wall on my right.

My God, it scared the shit outta me. It was another dead guard, only this one did not have bullet holes. How he did die, it was not pretty. That was when I saw a figure covered in gray run across to another office up ahead on the right. Now this "person" I saw wasn't just my imagination. I had to follow this... thing. But all I saw in the room was just more tiles on the carpet and a broken computer. Maybe it was this thing that's been running amok in the ceilings. Back to the job at hand though, I went to another room across this office and found a phone on the wall. It's answering machine was blinking, so I pressed the Play button. The machine said it was a new message, and that it was an outside number. A female voice probably in her late 20's spoke on the recording.

"Peter, it's Carla at Hudson Avionics. Where is everybody? I can't reach anyone over there. I need to talk to Brett about this draft he sent over, but he hasn't returned my call. It's really important that he gets back to me as soon as possible. Okay? Thanks."

Guess I didn't learn anything important from that one. Moving on, I opened a set of double doors up ahead that led to another large hall. I ended up in a large open area with glass windows leading to lounge rooms, and another floor above me with stairs to my right leading up. There was also a large prop tied to the ceiling. It was a Armacham satellite, obviously for show.

But before I even went to the stairs, the shutters behind me came down from where I came from. No turning back that way, I went up the stairs and reached the upper floor of this open area. There were multiple offices scattered all around the circle balcony. I froze for a second when I heard... something in the office to the left. Reaching over there slowly, I stopped when I saw some sort of creature clinging to the walls with its hands and feet.

Whatever this thing was, it was about 4 feet tall, covered in silver plating and body armor on its chest. It had metal bracers on its wrist, and covered in almost the same type of balaclava as the Replicas army. It even had the same insignia as the Replicas sewn to the side of their arms by the shoulders. There were two poles sticking out of its back, their purpose I couldn't figure out. But what freaked me out about the thing was its... mask. It completely covered this things face in gray with a set of goggles in front of its eye. But the goggles were covered in complete yellow, making look like it was looking through my soul. For the split second where time stopped for me and it, it just stared at me with its blank, possibly emotionless expression. Finally, my mind was able to keep up to the shock of seeing this thing jump from the wall and rushing toward where I was.

Refusing to let this thing get close to me, I backed up by rushing backwards and fired as many bullets out of my rifle to this thing as possible. I don't know how many bullets connected or how many had missed, but the ones that did must've killed it. It fell to the ground, blood pouring over the path it took to chase me. What made it strange is that it gave off the same blue electricity as from where I had seen it earlier today. The electricity was going through the two poles at its back, and then covered its body before it eventually went away after a couple of seconds or so. Even after its death, this Replica monster still gave me the creeps, with its blank mask looking at me still. Almost as if it wanted to curse me for its death. My mind went back to the area around me when I heard rushing footsteps behind me.

There was nothing behind me, until I realized that there was some blur lines moving through the air. However, the blurring matched to something similar to arm movement. Whatever made me do it, I was glad to have dodged to the side, for there were claw marks across the floor as I looked back. Cursing my self for not reloading, I pulled out my pistol and fired carefully back at where I saw whatever it was that attacked me. When the shots made contact, it revealed that the transparent figure was another of the same thing I just killed earlier. These things must've been the cause of some of the dead ATC security guards I saw when I entered Armacham. Whatever these bastards were, I just finished off this second one as the bullets took care of it.

After reloading both my primary and side arm, I treaded carefully through this balcony of the upper floor, hoping that these things wouldn't sneak up on me again. And speak of the devil, another one burst through the glass of another office near the one where I just checked earlier. The device they have that must've made them invisible possibly died out, for it's technology faded out as it was on its way to my position. These things were easier to kill compared to the Replicas, but they are also faster and more versatile than the soldiers. After firing more rounds, its dead body fell to the ground just merely inches to my feet.

Even knowing that they are dead, their appearance still scared me. It's as though they could still come after me with my back turned. For some reason, I had a good feeling there weren't anymore reason to get all tensed up. Continuing on, I stopped when a closed shutter prevented access to the room up ahead. On the plus side, there was another office by the shutter that had some broken windows I could enter in.

There were more windows that lead to the other side of the gate I could cut across from. There was another phone with a answering machine with a blinking red dot by the Play button. I pressed play for the machine to say "You have three new messages. First message from:" with a voice of a man in his late 50's saying "Chuck Habegger." I believed it was the same man that we found back at the abandoned site.

"It's Chuck Habegger. I've analyzed the readings and I'm recommending we suspend Perseus until we can figure out what's causing the synchronization. The patterns are identical to what we saw last time, but obviously the consequences would be a hell of a lot worse."

Wait a minute. Icarus and Perseus... I recognized both of the names. They were characters in ancient Greek mythology. The data I found earlier talked of a project called "Icarus", so maybe this "Perseus" Chuck mentioned could be related to that. But what did he mean by "synchronization". The answering machine said next message with another voicemail by Habegger.

"I got your message. Maybe you've forgotten that when this happened before, Fettel was only a child. And the fallout of that fuckup was that Origin had to be permanently shut down. This time we're talking about a highly trained military commander with a telepathic link to hundreds of soldiers that don't think for themselves. If you're worried about being behind schedule now, imagine what'll happen if we end up with a full-scale revolt."

What he said about Fettel had me worried. Something that happened when he was a kid? Only information we were able to get about him before the mission started was just what Betters told us before this operation. When Chuck mentioned something about "Origin", it made me think about what Bill Moody said before he died. I doubted it was just coincidental that they would mention something about it. And this phone call must've happened a lot earlier today, for he was saying something about a revolt that the Replicas would be responsible for. The last voicemail was by another man in his late 40's calling himself "Marshall Disler."

"Hi, it's Marshall. I just got off the phone with Chuck Habegger. I'm really worried about his findings. He said he talked to you about suspending the program temporarily and I've got to agree. If there's even the slightest chance of another synchronicity event, we've got to take it seriously. I'm going to head over to the Perseus Compound and check things out myself. Why don't you give me a call and let's discuss this."

There's more to this than just some hostile terrorist takeover. What Fettel and his army are doing just has no logic. Trying to look at it from their perspective, I could only guess this assault at Armacham HQ as a form of revenge on Fettel's part. I also then wondered where this Perseus Compound was, since Chuck and Disler both mentioned it over the phone. As much as I would like to know all of what's going on, I had to keep going. Maybe I can squeeze some answers from that Fettel before I kill him.

Busting through the windows, I made it around to some small steps that led to another hall up ahead. When I saw some of that blue lightning, I took cover by the wall. Peeking my head around the corner, I saw another of those things hunched over the dead body of another guard before it quickly jumped up to the ceiling. Good thing I just missed it, and I hope that I'm not the next victim. After all this weird shit that's happened to me lately, I think in any other circumstances I would become too paranoid to keep moving. I went down another hall that led to several empty cubicles. The only other way out of the room was in a break room that had some cabinets and shelves blocking the entrance. Another dead body of a guard was lying on top of a table with another at a corner, blood everywhere. There was a radio on the counter that sounded like the male news operator.

"Police have set up roadblocks all over downtown in response to the incident. No one is being allowed into the area except for emergency personnel. We've been unable to confirm the precise nature of the crisis, although at least one official has suggested that it may involve terrorism. Let's go to Diego Rodriguz live on the scene."

"Thanks, Phil. We're being told that just before 5:00pm today, gunfire was reported at the downtown headquarters of Armacham Technology Corporation, a major defense contractor. What followed is unclear at this point. U.S. Army helicopters were seen approaching the building, but we've heard nothing since. Police are urging citizens to remain at home and say there is very little danger of the situation spreading outside of the cordoned area. Phil, back to you.

"That was Diego Rodriguez coming to us live from the police blockade downtown. Today's crisis at Armacham comes on the heels of a report that one of its vice presidents was kidnapped at gunpoint this morning on his way to work. Police are refusing to speculate as to whether the events are connected."

The news segment had ended when they went on break for now. Seems that things outside are pretty close to getting out of hand. Police, news, and blockades all about the good Replica Army's reputation. That's just what needs attention. Guess I had to hurry. But with no other way around the building from where I was because of this damn security lockdown, I had to find a shortcut. I looked up to see that tiles of the ceiling were gone, right above one of the vending machines with a shelf knocked to the side of it. With all this setup, I had myself a convenient path up to the ceiling.

Climbing up the shelf and machine, I made it up to the cramped ceiling, with vents going through the area. Making my way through, there was more blood on the tiles above, with a ventilation system on the other side I could crawl through. But as soon as I reached the entrance, the tiles came down underneath me, with me falling to the floor. What sucked about the landing was that there were two more bodies of ATC security right there. I quickly got up from this mess and looked around from where I landed. I seemed to be in a large open hallway with several offices scattered across the hall.

Now this just started looking familiar. The sound of glass breaking caught my attention accompanied by footsteps put me back into action. With instinct, I waited for the right chance to figure out where these creatures would come from. There were two of them coming to me, their stealth camouflage turning off just before me.

Jumping back, I fell on my back as I fired off several rounds to these things. The bullets connected to both of them, taking care of that problem. One out of the two still flinched with lightning surging through its body before the poor bastard probably died of shock. After getting back up on my feet, I walked slowly through the hall with my guard up in case there were still more around. At the end of the hall was another laptop on a black couch that had some documents displayed. After hacking my through it, I had a call from Betters on the comlink responding "All right, it's uploading."

"Looks like the Icarus program got shut down in favor of something called Perseus, which from what I can tell is funded by DOD. I'm guessing that's where Fettel and his soldiers came from."

So that's what Charles meant over the phone. It sounded like Icarus was the predecessor to what they now call "Perseus." Then this Perseus Compound Disler talked about must've been the main cloning center for where they sent Fettel to train the soldiers they bred there, with the Department of Defense being its main funding source. Hopefully I can find some more information on the way.

I went up to another room with multiple counters and tables scattered along the way. and some more areas blocked off by security. There was a door up ahead that led behind another counter I could probably take. But as I started to reach to the door, something just fell down from where I could see behind the counter. Some of the tiles came down, and from what I saw it was a person. The individual gave off a high-pitched scream as a large thud was heard.

"Don't shoot! My name is Norton Mapes. I'm an engineer!".

The person, who sounded like a male, waved his hand around from where I could see before he stood up. He was an overweight fellow, with an almost equally large head. He had short orange hair, wearing a burgundy button up shirt with a Hawaiian style to it and blue jeans. He had large green shoes, and the belt he had on to keep his pants on had a belt buckle that said "RTFM." He looked terrified out of his mind, for he was sweating heavily. And it definitely showed in more places than just his armpits. Betters got a hold of me over the radio.

"Shit, it's a civilian! Give him a comlink."

All F.E.A.R. operatives that are sent to missions where there was a chance of rescuing civilians are given extra comlinks. The purpose obviously was so we could keep in contact and that the higher-ups can extract on-site information of the crisis. I guess this guy was lucky that he's the first so far. I took out an extra comlink from my belt and handed it over the counter for him to grab. He took the device and put it onto his left ear. He responded to Betters over the radio line.

"Hello? Who are you people?" Mapes had asked him.

"The good guys. Are you all right?" Betters asked him.

"Oh, sure. I'm having a hell of a time." Mapes said sarcastically.

"You said you're an engineer? Can you help me get into the network?" Betters asked.

"What am I? An I.S. lackey? Tell you what, you disable the local security system and I'll see what I can do about the server." Mapes told him.

"I can disable it remotely once I'm logged in." Betters responded.

"No you can't. It's on a separate network." Mapes explained to Betters. He came to the door that separated from where I was, unlocking it and opening the way to me. He shrugged over the direction to his right.

"It's back that away." Mapes told me.

"Why do you want us to bring down the security system?" Betters asked.

"Never mind why. You want my help, that's the price." Mapes finished as he took out a bag of "Cheezy Pooz" he was carrying and started stuffing his face.

I didn't trust this Norton Mapes. For someone who seemed shocked to see me at first, he sure calmed down pretty quick when he talked to Betters. And for not telling us his reasons for security to be shut down, that didn't help either. Maybe there was another place he tried to get through from the vents, but now can't and needed my help. Whatever his motives are, we will have to question him as soon as we get the chance. The room where we were at had several halls that lead to more rooms. Leaving Mapes behind, I continued on hoping that this guy doesn't just run off and get killed.

I hoped I was close to where the server of the security network, for all of this places started to look the same. Either there was a security lockdown or just more offices. But I did end up in one office that stood out. There were about three computers scattered around for three workers, with one of them practically littered with bags of "Cheeze Pooz", magazines, and soda cans. No doubt this used to be Mapes' working space. There was a phone with a recording on the table. I pressed play with the machine saying it was a message from "Iain Hives." I remembered the name. It was back at the Water Treatment Plant, where he left a message for Moody. I wonder what he had to say to Mapes.

"Norton, it's Iain Hives. Look, uh, Alice Wade stopped by my office this morning. I feel a little awkward saying this, but I really need you to tone down the innuendo around her. It's not that I personally give a rat's ass, but the last thing we need right now is a sexual harassment case drawing unwanted attention to this task force. It is supposed to be secret, after all. Okay? Thanks Norton."

Apparently Mapes was also a sleazy pervert too. What was this task force that Hives mentioned? Maybe it was to check up on something that some people aren't supposed to know about. Guess I'll have to keep my eyes open. Moving along slowly, I went pass the office and stopped when I heard the sound of Replicas talking. This must've been the first sign of Replica activity I've found since I got inside the building, not counting those invisible freaks.

"This is Bravo 12. We're in position."

"Copy, Bravo 12. Check in at 10 minute intervals."

"Will do. Bravo 12, out."

I looked over a glass railing that was above a main room with several plants in the center. Also, I noticed about three soldiers scattered around. One of them was by the end of a hall from the front of where I was looking at, while two of them were by a room that was difficult to see what was inside. I think that must be the place I have to go to. Now to figure out how to get there.

Holding onto a grenade, I threw it over to the two soldiers and opened fire at the lone Replica at the hall. As soon as the grenade went off taking those two out, the other Replica was already dead by gunfire. There was another yelling out "I've got three men down!" from where those two soldiers were at. He ran out and started opening fire at where I was. I took cover and waited for him to reload before going back out and returned my own fire. From where he was, there was no cover for him to go to, so it was easy to get some shots at him.

I went over to the left of where I was where there were some stairs. They lead down to the lower floor, along with some elevators to the side of me. They had a control panel, but they must not have been working, for there was a red icon over the buttons signifying that the elevators were offline. Going around, I ended up where the squad was, with one of them shouting "Closing!". Moving along to the other hall from where the other soldiers were, I slowly took cover and looked behind where the hall lead to. There were two Replicas rushing to my position, with one of them noticing my head and started to shoot me. I turned around before I was swiss cheese, pondering on how to pass them.

Hoping that this would work, I grabbed my last grenade from my belt, took it out and threw it over to where I last saw them. The two Replicas were jumped to the side and dodged the small object before it blew up a good part of the office next to them. Using my reflexes, I rushed over to both of them and laid gunfire on their defenseless corpses. As it turned out, there was another Replica by a desk that was near the explosion that I failed to notice. But before he could get back up, I shot him down. After reloading with barely any ammo left, I pilfered some of theirs and moved on.

Going further ahead, there was a small hall with a door at the end. I opened it, and saw that I hit the jackpot. There were spare grenades, rifles, and proximity mines on a couple cabinets. A little extreme for this part of the building, but I sure wasn't gonna complain. After grabbing what I needed, I turned next to the controls for what looked like the security system. I flipped the switch, with one of the closed shutters up ahead opening a new area up ahead. There were also a couple monitors on the screen next to me that showed more of them open. Betters then contacted me.

"That should do it. Mr. Mapes, do you copy?" Betters said with no response.

"Mr. Mapes?" he said again with silence as his answer. "Where is that idiot?" Betters responded with slight frustration.

"Fuck it. We'll just have to do this the hard way. Okay. Find that server and reboot it." Betters finished as the line went off. Hopefully, this part of the objective was gonna be easier.

Making my way back around where the gunfight took, I made it back to the where the closed shutters was next to some steps. Along the way, I was contemplating why Mapes didn't respond to our comlink. Maybe my paranoia was right and that he isn't what he says he is. But until we find him, I couldn't make any quick judgments. Going through some more rooms, I ended up back where I left off to find the security switch. Mapes was nowhere in sight. There was no sign of blood or a struggle. Just bags of junk food on the ground. He probably had the shits. My mind was focused with the sound of a Replica saying "Find him!".

I ducked behind the counter and looked off into the distance of where that came from. It was back on the other side of the large room where I originally came from. There were was a small squad, with about two taking point slowly. I laid a small proximity mine near where I was laying low, just around the corner where they wouldn't see it. Backing up, I waited until they had gotten just close enough. And then boom, the mine went off. I did not get all of them it seemed, for one yelled "I got two men down!". Looking slightly out where I was, I did indeed get the first two in line, but with another two just about 10 feet away. Bringing back out my rifle, I fired at the two unlucky soldiers, ending their lives. Moving back to the hall where I walked earlier, I stopped when I made it to a shutter that was closed previously and with more Replica activity.

"We've got enemy movement near the server hub in admin."

"Roger. Sending reinforcements."

I was now starting to hate the phrase "Sending reinforcements." It felt like I was gonna get a tumor every time I heard. And just as quickly as I did hear that, there were three more of them coming out from where the locked area was. They fired at me, with me obviously hiding out from their bullets around the corner. Taking out one grenade, I threw it over back to where the squad was. Lucky for me, too, as the explosion went off, along with the sound of them screaming in pain meant that I got at least some of 'em.

Looking back down the room, I saw that two out of the three were dead, with one more lying on the ground with his arm blown off. "Fuck!" was all he could say before I fired a bullet through his helmet. Going through the areas the soldiers came from, I was now finally in the room where the server for this section of the building was. Me and Betters got a message from Jin over the radio.

"This is Jin. We're on the roof. Heading inside." She said with a calm tone.

"Copy. Rendezvous inside." Betters instructed as they finished.

Just around the corner further down the large room, I went around and walked up to where the switch was. It was on a giant machine, a few feet taller than I was. Pressing "activate" on the side of the machine caused it to make some type of noise. Maybe I should get paid instead for pressing buttons. I guess I hit the payload, because Betters got a hold of me again.

"Okay, I'm showing that the network has been rebooted. Good job. It'll take a minute for the system to come back online."

I turned around to head back to the other side of the room, where I saw a brown door that I didn't open earlier. Didn't have to now, for 4 Replicas burst into the room immediately. I guess I had something to do for that minute, Betters. I fired at the squad quickly, only getting one of them because he was the closest and the others took cover. Not wanting to waste time, I kickstarted my reflexes again and hurriedly made my way to where two of them were hiding behind a pillar in the middle. They were surprised at my sudden offense, which I quickly returned the surprise with bullets. Three down, one to go. The last one tried to melee me from the back, probably not to waste ammo, only for me to turn right back around his back and shot him in the back. With all of them dead, my reflexes were back down to "normal", as I guess was the best way to describe it. I had gotten another message from Betters.

"That Mapes guy was right about security being on a separate network. I can monitor the camera feed, but I don't have any direct access to the system." He said before he went offline.

Moving along, I went through some hallways and turned right at a fork, with the left blocked off by security. I was now at a large main office area, with several cubicles scattered, and one of them even had another body of a dead regular office worker. That was when I noticed that were footprints on the carpet. Footprints made of blood, almost like a child. Looking up, I saw that there was blood scattered on some large windows for a hallway on the upper floor. Next to that blood was the little girl in the red dress. I couldn't see her eyes, due to the black hair covering her eyes. But deep down, I knew she was looking at me. She vanished, as well as the footprints that were on the ground.

As much as I should've seen it coming, I was really hoping that all of this would be over after leaving the Treatment Plant. But I soon comprehended that this would not end right away. I had to get to the source. Walking slowly through another hallway, I seemed to have reached parts of the building that are still under construction. The walls were not finished, with wood and plaster lying around. Betters contacted me instructing me of my orders.

"You're heading toward the last known location of that Delta Team. Secure the site and wait for Jin." He said before he logged off.

I was still going through more unfinished areas of this part of the complex. Some areas looked perfect for an ambush, but surprisingly none did happen. Maybe the enemy was waiting for me up ahead. Some of the lights were on while others were not functioning, flashing every couple seconds or so. I stopped when I turned around the corner for a second. For during that time, at the far end of the hall, I saw a figure slowly walking away. I knew who it was right away. It was Paxton Fettel. My body froze, for I heard his cold voice talking to me. It was as though he were standing right next to me, whispering to me in my ear.

"You've seen her, haven't you? She is the Original." he said in a low, frightening tone.

What he said shocked me. This reminded me of back at that abandoned building where we first met. Could he have been talking about this "Alma" that him and Bill Moody mentioned? My thoughts raced through my mind in question as I tried to understand what he meant by "Original." I finally came back to my senses when Betters talked to me over the comlink.

"I just picked up Fettel's transmitter somewhere ahead of you. Be careful." he had said with a voice of worry. Back to reality, I brought my weapon up in defense going to where I last saw him. He was gone, and the sound of his voice felt closer than ever.

"I was made from her. And I was born from her. We are separate, but we are one."

Looking back, I saw that no one was there. Maybe I was just confusing his voice as closer than it possibly could be. I went up ahead slowly, this time prepared that I don't get whacked across the head with another object. There was a lone light to the side illuminating part of the hall, with its source probably behind some unfinished material. There was a shadow of Fettel walking across where the light was shining from.

Holding my breath like my life depended on it, I quickly looked over where the light was and saw that no one was there. But that didn't make any sense. I know I saw a shadow of him, and he had to have been right here. So where could he be? Continuing, I was going through more unfinished rooms when I saw an orange blur by the hall around the corner. Something started to smell... almost like smoke. I made it to where the origin of this was to a set of doors that did not match anything I had seen in this place. There was fire on the other side of the door. Opening the door with caution, I was engulfed in a flash of bright light. Next thing I knew, I was in a completely different place.

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><p>I didn't have time to register right away what happened, for a floating figure was flying towards me. I fired off some rounds before the thing withered into black smoke. It looked exactly similar to the floating figure I saw back at the Treatment Plant, where I was imagining being back in that hall with the ceiling of blood. Is this... is this real? Whatever is happening now though, there was fire all over the place in a room that looked vaguely familiar<p>

The sound of a girl crying caught my attention from a corner of the room. It was that same little girl, only she was just standing there next to the flames. I couldn't tell if she was looking at me or the floor, for she too disappeared into black smoke. What does this mean? Turning around, there was only one place to go. A set of doors at the top of some stairs. Even though I was in a burning building, I could feel no heat coming from the fire. Just what the fuck is this place?

My thoughts were put aside, when two more of those "things" came from two separate corners of the room. Coming at me with long open arms, blank faces and wide yellow eyes, I retaliated with gunfire as they dissipated into thin air. I had made it to the top, where I stopped when some one was on the other side where I could see from the glass windows of the doors. It wasn't Fettel or the little girl or another one of those "creatures." Instead, it looked like a grown woman. She had long black hair, but I could not see her face for she was turned to the side. I tried to open the doors, but was once again filled with white before my eyes.

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><p>I was in another room, only there was no fire or darkness around me. It looked like another area of construction of where I was just a moment ago. Fettel's voice took over the silence of this place. I stopped to look around where he might be, only he was nowhere in sight again.<p>

"She is a prisoner. Floating in darkness. Like the unborn in the womb. Soon I will find her. And I will set her free."

Fettel was not in this room. No matter where I looked in this place, he was nowhere in sight. My mind was take over for what I just experienced. Was I really in a building full of fire? Goddammit, I didn't know what to say about all this. Nothing was making any fucking sense anymore. Only the communication with Betters snapped me out of my little trance.

"Shit, I lost him again. Fuck!" he shouted.

Beginning to think if telling him what I'm experiencing now would complicate matters, I put that question to the back of my mind. Had to finish the mission... I have to. There was a part of this area I could use to go through more construction of tools and paper. Kept going on and on when I stopped and saw that I was now back in familiar room structure as the offices earlier. Only to find a trail of blood leading off somewhere. I followed it to an unknown area. And what I had seen horrified me.

There was blood everywhere. Large, large amounts of blood lying on the large open area of this place. It wasn't just like at the harbor with the "remains" of the Delta squad. No, it was easily ten times more than that. Blood was coming down from the walls, and just as much of it on the ceiling as on the floor. It was like walking into a nightmare... There were bones lying across the larger puddles of red scattered about. Looking back up, there was even more of it on the balcony overlooking where the carnage took place. And so was that little girl in crimson. She faded away after looking at me, as if "sparing" me from the same fate. The sound of something clicking went off behind me. I turned around with my weapon drawn to see that it was an elevator. Jin Sun-Kwon and a single Delta soldier came out, with me slightly happy to see them.

Jin and the Delta's reaction to what they had seen was most likely more shocking that what mines was. She had one hand by the side of her mouth, practically speechless to what she saw. As for the Delta, well one arm was shaking in fear slightly with his weapon, and the other on his stomach as if he was about to throw up. All Jin could say to this was a simple "My God...". Betters contacted her asking "What do you think, Jin?".

"There was a lot of anger in this room", the closest thing to a good answer she could say.

"That's great. Got anything useful to add?" Betters asked, adding emphasis on "useful."

"I don't see any bulletholes. There's no brass lying around either. These guys didn't fire a shot." Jin surmised, looking around with a camera in one hand. She was right. Their weapons were nowhere I could see.

"Then what killed them?" Betters asked. I noticed that the lone Delta fiddled with the device for a security shutter up ahead, and got it to open up.

"I don't know." was all Jin could say.

"Well figure it out!" Betters yelled to Jin. I could've defended her, saying that maybe he should come here and see what happened. But for some reason, I didn't. Betters then begin to speak to me over the radio.

"All right, buddy, get moving. Fettel's gotta be close." he said and then went offline.

Jin was taking some pictures with her camera for evidence as the Delta was waiting by the device he was working on. Only other exit was where I could now go, so I went that way. The Delta operative yelled out "Watch your back" to me, nodding his head. He said it with a voice of someone that just lost a friend at a funeral, but trying to sound tough and not show it. Nodding back to him as I was making my way down the hall. There was a lone area of chairs, with a balcony looking over another room. It looked like I could take this path and continue into hopefully another part of this place that Fettel could be. I jumped down to the carpeting below me.

Only thing I can do for myself now is wish that I am prepared for what can happen next. Both for the situation... and for my mental state.

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><p>Whoa! What a chapter! Can't believe I did all that, believe it or not =O. Well, reviews would be cool. I seem to only get one per chapter, so I guess I should say "review" instead. Hope you guys (or gals) enjoyed this one! Still got quite a ways to go from here!<p> 


	9. Bishop

Alrighty folks, this one was supposed to come out later that it should've been, but I'm in a good mood today with college stuff so you guys(or gals) get this early. You would not believe the MASSIVE writer's block I had gotten from this chapter alone. Like seriously, took me FOREVER to get to this one. So hopefully you all enjoy it and see if it's good or not =P And I don't own the story of the game itself, Monolith does, blah blah blah

Speaking of Bishops, I wanna play Chess. Been forever _ Have a great read!

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><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 05 - EXTRACTION**

**BISHOP**

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><p><strong><em>The "Point Man"<em>**

The area I was now in was branched off into two paths. The path to my right was blocked off by a shutter, but the one on the left was available. I went down that area to find myself to a front desk for a receptionist to sit down. There was a blue flash to the right behind, similar to the ones I saw earlier. Steadily, I followed it into an almost empty closet. There were some tiles that were on the floor, with an open spot in the ceiling above me. If it was those invisible things I faced earlier, then I must've just missed it. I'm sure as shit not gonna complain. Heading back to the desk I passed, I went down around some corners. The sound of Replicas up ahead stopped my movement.

"Hostage is secure. They're questioning him now."

"Roger. Keep him alive until the commander gets there."

"Understood."

So there was hostages that they wanted. Does Fettel intend to interrogate him like he did with Charles and Moody? Only one way to figure out. I kept on going to see that I was now in a set of empty cubicles for employees. There was an upper floor with elevators above me, two Replicas walking towards the elevator. 2 more were on ground level, one in a small office to the right, and another on the other side of the room, below the balcony. I raised the G2A2 rifle and opened fire to the Replica closest to me inside the office. He was easy to take down. Now the ones yelling "Fuck!" and charging towards my position are the ones that are gonna be problematic.

The two on the balcony on the upper level were rushing to where I was, firing their rifles near my position. Activating my reflexes, I ran quickly to where I killed the first Replica, dodging their gunfire and returning some from my gun to them. And lucky me, I got both of them. The one from the other side was rushing towards my position, taking advantage of me being distracted for killing his teammates. He would probably have killed me too, if it weren't for me being able to react quickly to his actions and killing him with my rifle as well.

Seeing as how I was low on ammo, I had to put aside the G2A2 and grab the SMG the Replica's were now wielding down here. They were pretty much the same that I was using when I started this mission, so at least it wasn't anything different I had to adjust too. Plus, I still had the metal Penetrator, with another one on a desk. They must have left it here just in case. Sucks for them, then. There was another office to the right of me on the other side of the room. The light was not working, with the only way for me to see was a computer monitor left on. There was a phone with a voicemail leftover. Pressing "Play", the machine said one message from with someone saying "Harlan Wade." He sounded like an older male, only it was hard to tell what his age was.

"Mike, it's Harlan Wade. Chuck Habegger seems to think your people are blowing smoke up his ass on this Perseus situation. I don't know which one of you shitheels over there is calling the shots, but you'd better stop dicking around fast, because the readings are getting worse by the minute. It's really a simple choice. You can either listen to the expert advice you're being given or you can brace yourselves for the assfuck of the century. 'Cause it's coming. You can mark my words on that."

Man, did someone sound pissed alright. It was strange, though. I really had no idea how to explain it, but... his voice sounded familiar. Maybe I heard it from somewhere before and just forgot about it. But why was it bugging me so much to remember? As much as I want to know, I doubt I was going to get the answers just standing around. Had to keep going.

Moving forward, I was going through some back rooms for about a minute until I reached another cubicle area. Two Replicas were just entering this room from the other side. They quickly sighted me,"Target sighted" they yelled out loud. Taking cover inside of the little workplaces, I waited for them to stop to find a way to counterattack. One screamed "Closing!" as footsteps were coming towards my position. As the Replica came to me, I took this opportunity to rush towards him quickly. He was surprised with my action, as I shot him through the chest multiple times. The rounds of my SMG also reached to his teammate just behind him, thus killing both at the same time.

Dropping his lifeless corpse in front of me, I had to reload for this weapon wasn't fully stocked when I grabbed it. After doing that, I went further up ahead to a corner that turned to a dark hallway. There were a few offices on the left side of this hall, with no lights working in each one except for the computers inside. Trails of blood were left behind, with a body of an employee lying down on a table inside one of these offices. There was, however, a phone inside that was blinking red on its answering machine. I pressed "play" with the voicemail saying it was from "Marshall Disler." I remember hearing about this Disler guy earlier after first facing off against those invisible freaks.

"Hi, it's Marshall Disler. Looks like you were right about the energy signature. It's identical to the original. I'm still trying to come up with an explanation, but I figured you'd at least want confirmation. I'll be in touch when I know more."

After hearing the voicemail, I thought a little bit about that "energy signature" he meant. Identical to the original, huh? Well if he can't figure out what it means, then I guess I won't from just hearing about it. Moving on, I went around the corner at the end of this hallway. After hearing Replica activity around the other corner up ahead, I put my back to the wall. One of them said "He's after the hostage." Taking a peek, I saw that in the middle of this large room was a few chairs and a couch, as well as a few support pillars. The other side of this place had large glass windows a few feet from the walls. There was about 4 Replica soldiers all standing beyond the glass, looking off into several directions.

I think I had kept my head out for too long, for one of the soldiers yelled "Target sighted!" as he spotted me. One of them kicked over a table nearby them for cover with another joining him. The other two were shooting through the glass trying to hit my head. Not wanting to die for obvious reasons, I put back my head to dodge their bullets. One of my grenades available on hand, I tossed it over as close to the glass windows as possible. It went off after a second or two, and not even a single one of those soldiers were dead. However, they were all blown back a little from the blast, dazed and hurt from the explosion. This left me an opportunity to run up towards them and finish them all off with my SMG.

After reloading the whole clip I had, I went on over to where the dead soldiers were to pilfer some ammo. I began to hear cries of "Help!" before I had reached that side of the room, with another shout of "Get me outta here!" and "Can anybody hear me?". I tried to figure out where the source of the person's voice was when I then heard "I'm in the supply closet!". Looking over to the right of the overturn table, I saw that there was a door that indeed lead into a closet. Opening it carefully, I looked inside to find the person asking for help.

Holy crap, did this guy look like hell. He was a short black-haired male in his early 30's, wearing typical business attire. He had black pants, brown shoes, with a black coat on over his white shirt and red tie. But I guess the reason this guy looked like hell was that the right side of his face was covered in blood and bruises, his eye twitching from the effort to even look at me. He was also tied to a chair and was left into the corner of this closet.

What he was tied to would be the problem to get him out of. He was completely wired with explosives all around his chest to the back of the chair. If I even fiddled with those, it could set off a detonation that would kill the both of us. "Finally!" this guy said, happy to see that it wasn't a Replica coming to kick his ass. "Can you do something about these bombs?" he asked me. The look I gave him pretty much shot down his optimism of getting free anytime soon. Betters told me over the radio "All right, another civilian." He got in line with Den Mother to let him know of the situation.

"Den Mother, we've located a hostage. Sounds like he's wired up with explosives."

"Roger, I'll send somebody to help out." Den Mother told him as he got offline.

Betters then said to me "Give him a comlink." I took out a spare one I had for civilians, similar to the one I gave Mapes, and handed it to the hostage. Even though he was tied up, he could still put the device into his ear. He tried to speak to Betters by saying "Hello? You guys special forces or something?". Well, that's one way to put our line of work tonight. Betters responded back "That's right. Just sit tight, Mr...". The man then told us his "Bishop. Aldus Bishop." Den Mother got a hold of us again.

"Demo team's on its way." That meant that a specialist would be here to help this guy.

"Okay, buddy, there's some elevators near your position. Secure the area and escort the team back to Bishop" Betters instructed me.

I nodded back to Bishop, pretty much letting him know that he had to stay here in this room for a bit longer. If I hurry, then hopefully I could get back before any Replica soldiers were to corner him again. Seeing that there was an another hall to the side of this place, I followed it through a few empty rooms to where there was a fork in the path. Taking the left hallway, I went all the way past some more empty rooms and reached a desk at the far end of this hall. Looking around, I saw that I reached the elevators that I'm supposed to meet the demolitions team. Just as I reached there, a shutter gate closed right behind me. Was I trapped?

"Someone's messing with the security system. They may be trying to box you in." Betters told me over the comlink.

If it's the clone soldiers doing, then I'm not definitely not gonna be holding back on them. The desk had two more of those remote grenades I could use. After grabbing those, and heard the sound of an elevator coming down to this floor. There were 6 elevators all around me, three of them to the left, and the other three in front of me. The middle of this place had a few chairs, but they weren't big enough for me to find cover. There were some support pillars that could work for me to avoid getting shot at, but that were to also depend on where they come from.

The middle elevator on the left had just reached this floor, for I could tell when the monitor next to the switch turned from red to blue. The doors opened, and a single Replica walked out of the elevator searching for me. From where I still was next to the desk, I could easily take care of him from this spot. Raising my submachine, I opened fire with his guard down. He was easily disposed of without any effort on my end. The elevator closest to me was now getting ready to open. Taking cover to the side of the machine, I waited for the clone soldier to step out, for he too was now looking for me. Using my heightened reflexes, I snuck up behind the guy and broke his neck.

Another elevator on the left side as well as the one on the right ahead of me were beginning to reach here. When they opened, there were two Replicas coming out of each, adding up to 4 of them. The two on the right next to another closed security gate saw where I was and yelled out to the others "Over there!". Activating my reflexes, I picked up two different grenades, one regular and one remotely.

The typical grenade I tossed all the way to the soldiers far ahead, the other I put to the ground just next to me near the other elevator close to me. The grenade I threw with all my strength reached the soldiers in their trapped space inside the elevator, killing them but not destroying the machine. they came from. For the remote explosive, I pressed the switch for it to turn on and exploded near the other set of soldiers. Lucky for me, it worked too, since they screamed as they died out from the pain of the blast.

Another of the two remaining elevators opened up. I looked over to see who came out. With my shitty luck coming back to bite me in the ass, it was a Heavy Armor accompanied by a single Replica soldier. The Heavy brought it's up to fire at me. My reflexes activated again, I put away my SMG and pulled out my own Penetrator. Moving over to the side, I fired at both the Heavy and the lone soldier with the metal weapon, my grip strong to ensure my accuracy. The metal Replica was dazed with 10 huge nails into its chest while 4 of them hit the Replica, sending him flying back to the elevator.

After taking cover next to a support pillar, I grabbed one remote bomb from my belt with my left hand. Tossing it just a few feet back to where he was, I pressed the switch with an explosion happening near the Heavy. Looking back into the dust, he was still standing but obviously in massive amounts of pain. He brought his weapon back up and fired a few nails at me, with only me ducking to the floor saving me from getting hit. With my HV Penetrator out again, I fired the remaining shots back at this monster. He fell down to the ground, screaming out in pain as it died, static noise emitting from its voice into the air.

There was only one elevator left that the Replicas could use to get here. I looked around quickly to stack up ammo from the dead Heavy Armor, only he didn't have enough for me to use. With not much ammo left with the SMG, I took the Replicas G2A2 and magazines for it. The sound of another elevator coming was heard next to the others that the last few soldiers came from. Bringing my weapon to the doors, I waited for whoever was inside to be shown so I can kill them. I really hoped it there wasn't another one of the metal beasts inside this one.

The doors opened, and instead of Replica's, it was two other Delta's inside. One of them was Douglas Holiday, the commander of the Delta's assigned to this mission. Last time I saw him was back at that abandoned building to where we got picked up by the choppers to reach the docks. He was accompanied by another Delta operative with their SMG's out. Holiday yelled out "Hold your fire!" when they saw me.

"Hey, good to see you again." he said to me. I was actually surprised that he remembered me. We didn't even talk to each other when we first met. When I saw him back during that briefing, he had a serious tone to his followers. Now, he had a laid-back expression on his face. He walked on over next to the one of the shutter gates. He contacted Betters over the radio asking "Any way to get these gates open?".

"Unfortunately, no." Betters simply told him. Well this sucked.

"Then I guess we're gonna have to improvise." Holiday said back.

He pulled out a small set of explosives tied together from a bag on his belt. They were the same kind that Bishop had all over him. Douglas attached the plastic set to a wall next to the gate. The other Delta looked back at the destruction around us that the Replicas and I caused earlier. He looked back at me and said "You're by yourself? I'm amazed you've stayed alive this long." He had no idea... Holiday set up the bomb as an orange light was blinking with a small beeping noise. He calmly said "Stand back" to us as we took cover. "Here goes" Holiday said as the beeping became faster, with it finally going off in a big explosion.

"We're through." he said as I looked back where the bomb went off. It made a big enough hole for all of us to fit through. We were now inside a set of office rooms. I was leading the both of them to where we could get back to Bishop. On the way back through some old rooms, Holiday said out loud "Man, I should've called in sick today." A laughed a little to myself, for I wish I could've used that excuse to get out of this assignment.

We made it back to the larger room to where I fought the troops guarding Bishop. Considering my bad luck today, Bishop would probably be dead after leaving him by himself. Instead though, he was still alive. He was pushing himself out from the supply closet, possibly bored from just sitting in a small space. He stopped when he saw us come back, with Holiday kneeling behind the chair. He was trying to figure out how to get rid of the explosives, while me and the Delta were standing around waiting.

"You the bomb expert?" Bishop asked Holiday.

"That's right. Don't worry, you'll be fine." Holiday said.

"Just get this shit off me. Please." Aldus said irritated.

"Whoever rigged this is definitely a pro." Holiday said to us, as he was fiddling with the bombs. I honestly wasn't sure what he was doing, but I don't specialize in explosives.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Bishop said worried.

"He may be a pro, but I'm a master." Holiday assured him.

The lights in this room turned off. We all looked around quickly when a loud buzzing sound was heard. An orange siren was flashing all around us, almost like some kind of alarm went off. Holiday said out loud "A fire alarm?" as we were all confused over what happened. Was it a real fire that triggered it or something else? Another closed shutter opened up, probably for emergency for civilians to evacuate. Betters got a hold of us over the comlink.

"It was triggered at a security office on that floor. You'll need to shut it off to get the elevators back online."

Holiday was still trying to get the explosives off, and he would need protection with the other Delta in case of reinforcements. As the "point man" I guess it was up to me. I left them both and went down the path that the shutter blocked earlier. Turning around some corners in the halls, I reached a waiting room with stairs that lead to the upper floor. As I went up the stairs, Betters was talking to Bishop over the channel.

"Mr. Bishop, do you have any idea why you were taken hostage?".

"They were asking about Harlan Wade. Me and his daughter Alice are on the same task force." I remembered hearing about Harlan from that phone call moments ago, the guy who was swearing like a sailor.

"What kind of task force?" Betters asked Aldus.

"We're working on a study of the Auburn district over the past 25 years. Nobody told us what's it for." That was back at the treatment plant I was at earlier.

"Where's his daughter now?" Betters asked of him.

"Her office is in the executive building. On the 6th floor." Bishop told him.

I was pretty sure that later on Betters would order me to look for this Alice girl after we evacuated Bishop. But for now, I have to make sure that we get out first by turning off the alarms. After I reached the top of the stairs, I passed some small offices that I saw earlier when I first faced the Replicas when I came to this area. There was another phone in one of the offices blinking red to the right of me. Not seeing the harm in some information going to waste, I pressed "play" on the machine. And speaking of Alice, it was left behind by her as it was announced by "Alice Wade." She sounded like a young woman ranging in the early 20's.

"Hey, Aldus, it's Alice Wade. I put some photocopies in your mail basket. It's a bunch of news articles I dug up about Auburn from the last 25 years. There's a surprising amount of corroboration of the physical symptoms that old woman told us about. Seems a lot of people over the years reported feeling uncomfortable of nauseated after spending any amount of time there. But if it was some kind of chemical or radiological contamination, why didn't the city find anything in the soil or groundwater? It doesn't make a lot of sense. Oh well. I'll talk to you soon."

Well that was interesting. So not only was it hard to even live in that area due to its economy, but it was also responsible for having the people living there to get sick. I guess this task force had some parts of their investigation done, but not enough to find out why it was like that. At this point, it might be a while before anyone does. Heading back the way I was going, I went around another corner and found myself in another elevator room. One of them was open while the other was closed. The closed doors disturbingly had a large amount of blood lying in front of it and some at the bottom.

Looking around some more, I spotted a small room next to the entrance of this place through a window inside. Inside was a terminal with three monitors saying "Emergency" with Armacham's logo all across them. To get inside, I opened the brown door as I reached where the terminal was. A bag of "Cheeze Poofs" was laid out on the desk. My guts told me that fatass Norton Mapes probably started the alarm system. Not sure why though. There was another phone on the wall to the left of it blinking red as well. Pressing the play button, the phone had another message from that Marshall Disler I heard about a while ago on the other phone.

"This is Marshall. Something's happening over here at the Perseus Compound. I can hear gunshots, but the security system just went down, so I don't know what the situation is. Just send all available security teams to lock this place down. I'll call back once I have a better idea what's going on."

I remembered him saying something about going over there to check out something. But who would attack that place, and what would be there for them to attack the place? Back to the task at hand, I turned back on the security system. The alarms were then turned off, with the orange lights and siren now gone. The monitors went back to the Armacham logo, as I looked back over to see just the regular lights on near the elevator. As I was heading back, someone stood up in front of the window. It was that little girl.

"I know who you are."

Not sure why, but I froze in place from just hearing that. I couldn't see her eyes, but I just knew she was staring at me. I wasn't sure if it was killer's intent coming from this child, but there was some kind of vibe coming from her. I just wasn't sure... Feeling my legs came back to me, I walked back out slowly. Looking around back at where she was, she was walking towards me. Her arms were outstretched as she came towards me. A flash of white covered my eyes. As soon as it was over, she was now gone. I was too distracted with what happened, I almost didn't notice Betters talking to me.

"Great, the elevators are working again, but now the security gates are all shutting. You're going to have to find another way to the roof." He was right, for the shutters were now closed in the room I was at. They prevented me to meet back up with the others.

"Holiday, can you guys escort Mr. Bishop?" Betters asked him.

"We'll take good care of him." Holiday told him.

Seeing as how one of the elevators was still working, I walked over to it to take it up to the roof. Looking back at the pool of blood, there were small footsteps that went from there to the window for the terminal room. I once again contemplated telling the others about that little girl. As much as I wanted too, a part of me told me that it would be ridiculous to bring it up. After the mission, I'll tell them. I hope...

After entering the elevator, I pressed it to the top floor. The doors closed as the machine started to go up. After a while, the lights in the elevator stopped as it rocked a bit. The doors then opened revealing that I was about halfway stuck between this floor and and floor underneath it. Carefully, I crawled out of the elevator and entered the room. I was now in another one of the rooms still in construction, for supplies and boxes were scattered all around the area. There was another gate blocking me off from getting out, but there was an opening in the ceiling I could use to get out of here.

"Betters, I'm pretty much done here." Jin said to him over the channel. I forgot that she was back at where the remains of the Delta's was found.

"Any theories?" Betters asked her.

"I'm gonna need to do some lab work." She told him.

"All right, head back to the roof and sit tight. It may be a while before I can get a ride out of there for you." he instructed.

"Understood" she accepted as they went offline.

Climbing up through the set of boxes, I reached up to the vent system. It had a holder in place, but I easily knocked it down with the butt of my rifle. Crawling inside, I went through and saw an exit to the left not far from when I entered. I broke the vent holder and got out to a small maintenance room outside of where another elevator was at. There was a single body laid out next to a railing, trails of blood marked on the wall. As I reached up to it, something had dropped right in front of me. I looked down to where it fell down the elevator shaft to see multiple bodies at the bottom.

There must have been 10 to 12 bodies laid out with large piles of blood everywhere. Their faces were expressed with horror and shock. Looking back up, it was hard to see anyone or anything above me. Who was it that did all this? There was another door to the right of the shaft. Opening it, I found myself in another hall that I could turn to the left with an office at the end of it. A laptop was laid out on a small table next to me, with several documents of importance on the screen. I sent the information to HQ with Betters replying to me "The data's uploading."

"Well, this confirms the point of Perseus was to train telepathic commanders to work with clone soldiers, although it looks like Paxton Fettel was the only commander in the program. The weird thing is that they refer to him as the second prototype." he explained it all to me.

What the fuck does that mean, "second prototype" and all that? Please don't tell me there was another bastard like him running around. Either that or hopefully he was dead and Fettel had a better chance of replacing whoever it was. Anyway, I went down the hall to see on my left another shutter blocking the way. There was an open window in the office inside, with a small ledge that I could walk on. Going outside, I treaded carefully on the thin cement. The city felt kind of empty from where I was looking at. No one driving or walking out, just quiet. It was strangely peaceful. As I was walking alongside it, a crow fly out next to me. If I wasn't being careful, I would've probably fallen off here to my death.

Still continuing, I reached another office with the window open for me to get inside. A little too convenient, I think. Entering inside, I came back out to the hall that the gate was blocking me from. It seemed I had reached another construction area of this building. I really hope it's not like the last one I was at. There was some Replica activity heard ahead of my position as one of them said "He may try to come this way." How did they know I would be coming?

Looking ahead, I saw that there was about two of them standing next to each other on the other side of this room. Bringing up my rifle, I walked a bit closer to where they were, since their backs were towards me. After getting close enough, I fired at both of the soldiers and easily finished them off. I must have caught the attention of the other Replicas, for their were some footsteps were coming towards over here. I saw that just a few feet from the dead troops was a yellow canister of gasoline. Three soldiers were walking on over from the direction of where the barrel was.

Not wanting to question my chances of this happening, I aimed at the canister with my rifle. Firing a few bullets into it, a big blast of fire engulfed the area around it. The three Replicas were engulfed in the explosion and were screaming out in intense pain. After grabbing a couple of grenades and some ammo, I made my way up some more. Reaching another area with some more canisters of gasoline, there was another group of those Replicas next to them.

Unfortunately, they had seen me trying to aim at the gas and all backed off from it. They were firing at my position, causing me to hide back and take cover. Thinking over on how to attack them, I looked over to see that there was another way around this spot. I could use this as a way to catch them off guard and attack them to the side. I ran all the way over as quickly as possible to where I could get the drop on them. Luckily for me, there was indeed a spot I could get the drop on them. To take them all out immediately, I grabbed one grenade and tossed it over to them. One looked down his feet to see the device, yelling "Fuck!" before him and both of his companions were killed in the ensuing blast. Score six kills for me.

"We need reinforcements!" was heard to the far left of where I was standing. I looked all the way over there to see 3 more Replicas coming my way. Where are these guys coming from anyway? They were all coming from the upper floor balcony above a set of elevators below us. Even though there were some more canisters on the way from where they were coming, they were smart enough to blow them from afar so that I couldn't use them myself. But, it also provided a catalyst for me to use that to my advantage. The explosions of flame can provide some cover for me to get closer to these soldiers without them noticing.

After they destroyed the last barrel, it was now or never. Using my reflexes, I rushed into the smoke of the explosion with my gun drawn. Coming out of the other side of the black air, I surprised the Replicas who were only a few feet away. Quickly, I fired all the bullets I had available in the gun straight to the chests and heads of the enemy. After they all died, I relaxed myself for a bit and took a deep breath. Looking around, it didn't seem like there were any more of them around. Well at least I caught a break for now, hopefully.

Going around the balcony, I stopped when the sound of a helicopter caught my attention. Looking up the glass ceiling, I saw it fly past from where I was to the right. I was pretty sure that one was actually one of the Replica Army's choppers instead of ours. That can't be good. There was open spot for the balcony and large stack of supplies next to it that I could use to climb down. Conveniently, I could use these to reach to the lower floor. As I was climbing down, Betters got a hold of me.

"Fire and rescue is giving up on Jankowski. I'm hoping he just banged his head really hard and he's wandering around the harbor with amnesia." When he was saying all this, he sounded regretful to even bring it up to me.

As far as HQ knew, Spencer was presumably dead and his body may not be found. For me, he occasionally showed up as some kind of "phantom" giving me cryptic words. Just... how could I tell Betters and Jin all that? They would think I'm crazy and trying to insult a comrade. Maybe it really was for the best... to not bring up how I'm seeing Jankowski since we had reached the docks. At least, that was the probably the best I could do about his disappearance.

Moving on down the lower floor- trying my best to not think about Spen - I reached to where the deactivated elevators were. Down the hall was another open area of construction with an upper balcony for it as well. Looking carefully to the right of the room, however, were three Replicas walking into the room. Shit, this must've been the reinforcements the others requested earlier. They must have just shown up recently, too. Almost as soon as they showed up, they had spotted me with one yelling "He's here!". Not much room for comfort, I ran over to the left next to some boxes for cover. Hopefully, they were all full of stuff that could protect me from their gunfire.

Pulling out one of the two grenades I had left available, I tossed it back over to where the Replicas were firing at me at. Looking back over to where I tossed it, the blast from the grenade only got two out of the three of the troops. The remaining one managed to go the other direction to try and corner me. I jumped out and fired back at him. He was disposed of easily, although hitting the floor with my shoulder was something I didn't want.

Getting back on my feet, I went down the hallway that they came from. I reached another open area with barely some of the lights working. Too bad there was about six more Replicas waiting for me all around this place. With only some construction stuff lying around for cover, I went down quickly before they could get a good shot at me. With not much options available, I took out my last grenade and a firm grip on my rifle. Getting ready, I kickstarted my muscles and quickly jumped out to kill these bastards.

Tossing the grenade over to the left side of this room, I brought it over to where three of the soldiers were. They were all shocked to see it come towards it, but it was too late as it went off all around them. With them dead, that just left the other three. They were all distracted by what I did that they couldn't have the chance to counterattack. Having my spare hand back on the rifle, I aimed down to where they were trying to take cover. Thankfully, I got all of them with just ending the last bullet hitting one of them through his helmet. After reloading, I went over to make sure all of them were dead while at the same time pilfering their ammunition. They sure weren't gonna use it, after all.

There was a door that looked like it lead somewhere for me to get out of. Going that way, I saw that it looked like somewhere for the employees to work on for the power of this place. A set of stairs led up that I could use to get back to the upper levels of this building. They stopped to where it looked like they didn't finish only about half way up. However, there was some thick wood and equipment I could climb onto and make my way from here. As I was climbing on this stuff, Holiday contacted both me and Betters.

"We're on the roof." he stated.

"Good. How are you holding up, Mr. Bishop? Betters asked him.

"Looking forward to getting the hell out of here." Bishop said hastily. Hopefully they didn't have too much trouble getting up there.

"I'll bet you are" Betters commented on.

After climbing up some more, I saw that there was some kind of fence preventing me from getting me to the door on the other side. I climbed up on over it, hoping that I could meet up with Holiday and Bishop...

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><p>Hope you guys like it! Enjoy, review, blah blah blah<p> 


	10. Blindside

Ok, this one is finally uploaded. Sorry it took a while, just had some stuff going on here (procrastination, stuff like that). Here things start to become interesting with Armacham, but whattttt? O_O Well thats for you, the reader, to find out isn't it? Oh yeah, I do not own the FEAR series or claim ownership to the company's work that indeed makes it. Because if I did, then that would be sweeettt

Have fun!

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><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 05 - EXTRACTION**

**BLINDSIDE**

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><p><strong><em>The "Point Man"<em>**

From where I ended up, I was just a few feet away from a red door. After opening it, I was now in a small room that would lead me outside. Looking out of the filthy windows inside, I saw there were 4 Replicas shooting at something into the air. That was when I saw a helicopter coming from the west flying on over to the east. It was definitely the Black Hawk that Delta and Bishop were gonna use to get out of here. I guess it also helped when Holiday reported "I've got a visual on the chopper." over the radio. The soldiers up ahead were saying to each other "Regroup!" and "Yes, sir!" as they tried desperately to shoot it down. Since they were distracted, I could get a clean shot of them from here.

Opening the door leading to the roof, I waited to get closer before I opened fire at the unsuspecting troops. After killing them, I headed to the right some more until I saw another soldier with a shotgun. Just as he fired a shell at where I was, I quickly took cover next to a electric generator. From his footsteps it seemed like he was rushing to my position. I went around the machine to attack him from his left side, to where he was most vulnerable. When he saw me, it was too late for him as I gunned him down. Another Replica came out from behind another machine next to his fallen comrade. Easily, I opened fire at him, easily ending his life as well.

I had begun to notice that some of these Replicas were wearing different uniforms. Some of them had more black on their vests as well as red visors covering their faces. I guess they were bringing out the more advanced soldiers in their army to try and stop us. Anyway, I was continuing my way through the roof by passing through some more ventilation and generators scattered about. From where I could see, there was another door several feet away that I could use to get back inside. However, the door opened quickly as a Replica told his squad "The target is on the roof." Four of them came out, two with a SMG, another with a shotgun, and the last carrying an ASP rifle.

They didn't see me yet, so I took cover and waited for them to come near my way. Just as they did, I snuck around the edge of where I was hiding so they still couldn't see me. After they passed by, I had put aside my rifle and snuck up to the one carrying the ASP and broke his neck. Next, I snuck behind the guy with the shotgun and broke his neck as well. The two in front guessed that something was wrong and turned around to see me next to their dead teammates. Before they could bring their weapons up, I quickly brought up my pistol - which I probably haven't used in hours, now that I think about it - and opened fire to the two of them, ending their lives.

Needing another weapon would probably be something best to take. So I grabbed the ASP on the ground and holstered it to the side and replaced my assault rifle with the SMG as well. Going inside, I was now near some more machines scattered around. Two more Replicas were coming from the direction I was going when they spotted me. Before they could open fire at me, I ran on over to the right to where there was another pathway I could take. Running away from them, I noticed that there was another couple of grenades lying on the table I could use. Okay, now I know they are just leaving shit behind and not realizing it.

Grabbing them, I then left one behind to where I took it, knowing that the Replicas were still chasing me. And sure enough, they showed up with two others following them as they tried to corner me. They realized too late that the round object near their feet was a grenade when it went off. Blood and limbs flew everywhere, pretty much leaving nothing in their wake. Continuing on, I made my way around some more electronics and equipment to when I reached another desk next to a railing. On the desk was a handheld radio with a newscast going on.

"We have an update on the situation at Armacham headquarters. A company spokesperson has confirmed that many employees were still at work when the situation first erupted. No word yet on the welfare of those inside." Maybe it was for the best that no one saw what exactly happened inside, would be my response to that.

"Since it was founded in 1964, Armacham Technology Corporation has become a leading aerospace/defense contractor, with revenues approaching 8 billion dollars and almost 60,000 employees worldwide. The company specializes in satellite technologies, ground-based communications, and advanced weapon systems."

The news went on break as their "catchy" theme tune was playing. Getting back to meet up with Holiday and the others, I went over the railing and found myself in front of a closed elevator. The sound of a chopper was heard nearby, which meant that must be our ride out of here. Maybe they came up from this elevator I was standing next to. There was another ASP rifle lying next to it, which I took its ammo and kept on going.

Going around the next corner, I finally reached the exit to the roof. The helicopter was several feet from my position, and I saw Holiday trying to lift Bishop onto it. Suddenly, they were getting shot at from the left side that the Black Hawk was facing. Bishop was hit on the back with a couple bullets as Holiday tried to get inside the helicopter. He yelled out "We're taking fire! Get us the hell out of here!" with the Hawk now leaving the LZ, for it was taking too much gunfire to stay on the ground. I was now stuck on the roof with more Replicas while my backup was flying away. Betters got on the radio to ask what happened over the situation.

"What's happening?"

"Bishop's down! Repeat, Bishop's down!" Holiday told us. Great, after all that work and we still failed to keep him safe. Motherfucker...

"That was ATC security!" Holiday shouted. Wait, what?

Looking back down to the ground after the Black Hawk left, I saw that there wasn't any Replicas to be seen. Instead, it just about two regular security guards for Armacham. They had on small caps, black sunglasses over their eyes, wearing black pants and a white shirt covered in black body armor. Some of them were of Caucasian and dark skin tones.

"Are you sure!" Betters asked Holiday in disbelief.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure." Holiday said with an angry tone.

"Friendly fire?" Betters speculated.

"Didn't feel very friendly to me. I think they were deliberately targeting Bishop." Wait a minute, so that means they were trying to kill their own employees?

"What the fuck is ATC doing!" Betters yelled out, which I was thinking about as well.

"Guess they didn't trust him to keep his mouth shut about something." Holiday told him.

"God, I hope you're wrong... I'll look into it." Betters said quietly.

Goddammit, so not only was an army of clone soldiers attacking this place, but now I gotta deal with their own security squad? Fucking bullshit, that's what is happening here. Taking cover next to the wall by the door, I brought out the ASP and used its scope to look further ahead. The two ATC guards that were firing at Delta were standing next to a flight of steps that down to the lower section of the roof. They didn't know I was here yet. Taking my chances, I opened fire with 3-round bursts at both of the guards. If they are out to kill us, then I'm sure as hell not gonna hesitate on sparing them. After killing them, I went outside and took cover by the wall next to look further out from the roof.

There wasn't any more of them on the lower part of this roof, but there was a small interior in the center I could enter. Problem was, there was two other guards on the roof of that building that were scouting ahead for any other soldiers like me running about. That and they must've seen their teammates die from such a distance would leave them worried. Looking through the scope of my ASP, I could see that they too had the same weapon I was currently using. If I went out now, they would tear me to pieces.

To fight fire with fire, I aimed carefully down my sights to where the both of them were exposed. Quickly, I opened fire at the one on the left who was closest to taking cover. 3 rounds to the head was all it took to get the job done. The one next to him on the right yelled "Sniper!" until I eventually killed him too. There were two more coming out from the middle part of the roof shooting near my position. From this distance, it would be a waste to use the rest of the bullets I had left of the ASP. Bringing out my pistol, I activated my reflexes and went out of cover. Keeping a strong grip to my gun, I aimed carefully to the two guards that were firing at me. They were so shocked on how fast I was moving that they were caught off guard, leaving me an opportunity to show them both in the head.

Seeing that the coast was clear, I went over the railing down to the lower section of this roof. Before I reached the metal steps that led back inside, there were was another set of ATC security coming out from the right up ahead. Unlike the Replicas, who were more careful and had better strategies, these guys were more reckless and less trained to fight. Fortunately for me, they were easier to take down compared to the clone soldiers. From here, all it took was a few more headshots for them to go down easily. Leaving them behind, I went inside and stopped when I heard some chatter ahead. Looking around the corner, I saw some more ATC guards coming down some stairs as they were talking to each other.

"Bishop has been neutralized."

"Good work. Farley's men are still looking for the Wade girl, so see if you can locate Iain Hives."

"Will do." They finished.

So Bishop isn't the only one that Armacham wants. They also want that Hives person I heard about on the phone earlier and Harlan Wade's daughter. All of this reeks of conspiracy, no matter how you look at it. And I knew from facing these guys outside that they won't reveal what their motives well. Whoever the asshole is for paying these guys to do all of this dirty work is gonna get what they deserve soon enough. But right now, I have to focus on figuring out how to avoid more of their reinforcements.

There was two of them still coming down the steps slowly, with another two standing around next to some machinery underneath them. Really wishing I still had more grenades, I had to make due with what I had. Grabbing my SMG, I opened fire at the guard who was closest to the top of the stairs. After killing him, his body was falling down which tripped the other guy who was still coming down. Since he was distracted, I focused on the other troops who just now saw me. Before they could fire at me, I quickly took care of them with just a few chest and neck shots. Then finally, the last one who was trying to recover from the fall was dealt with as I shot him straight through the head. Good thing these guys aren't as heavily armored as the Replicas.

Grabbing some more magazines of the SMG from the guards, I went up the stairs which led me to the top of this place. I was standing next to the dead soldiers that I sniped earlier. After grabbing their ASP ammo as well, I went around the roof of this place some more till I reached another ledge. From here, there was a door all the way across next to a wall that I can enter back inside. Problem was, it just opened with 3 more of ATC's people scouting the place. They were all following each other in a single file when they were getting out, so I could probably shot them all down consecutively. Pulling out the rifle, I aimed down and shot down all the guards with no problems.

After reloading, I climbed over the ledge and made it to the door that the security came from. Going inside, I made my way around some more electrical boxes on the walls until I reached a small desk next to a wall. Over the railing next to me was a very big drop over something below. On the other side of the drop was another room that I could take to get around. There was a long vent I could jump on top of to reach over to that spot. It was then that I was ambushed by two guards as they were firing at me from the other side.

Taking cover, I noticed that there was another electrical box behind both of them. Bringing out my pistol, I fired one shot at the box causing it to explode. The guards never even saw it coming, as they were fried in an instant. Carefully, I climbed over the railing above the vent and cautiously dropped down on top of it. No problems from the impact. But just as I was walking along it, the entire unit disconnected itself as the whole thing gave away. I was now falling for quite a while down. Last thing I heard was Betters calling out to me.

"Shit! Your signal's breaking up!"

And for a moment, I thought that I was gonna be dead at any second. But instead of hitting some kind of floor with hard cement, I landed in some kind of water. Not even holding my breath, I struggled to swim further up until I got my head above the surface of the water. Looking around, I was in some kind of maintenance for this building. There were several pipes everywhere, some larger than others. Climbing up a ladder that led to some steps, I was completely wet and... kind of smelled. At least I wasn't dead.

Some parts of the ventilation was in the water from where I fell, which I'm glad didn't hit me on the head. Up ahead was a hallway I could go towards and find a way out of here. With communications down, I don't know how far up I would have to go to get back in contact with HQ. Anyway, I went down the hallway with some kind of pipes connected to the wall alongside me. I could feel some kind of heat coming off from them. When I reached the end, I saw a fenced door with a padlock on it. That was when I also saw that little girl on the other side.

She laughed with that childish tone before she disappeared. It took me a while to regain my composure after seeing that. What does she want with me? What is it that about me that still keeps me alive from her compared to those who got in her way? Getting back to what I have to do, I shot the padlock off the door. And son of a bitch, I realized my mistake. Fire was coming out from the pipe next to a generator nearby. And without a second to do anything about it, an explosion went off next to me as I was flown back for quite a distance. I landed right back into that same filthy water I just got out of not even a minute ago. Well, better than being burned alive by getting completely wet.

Climbing back out of the water - again - I saw that the explosion down the hall was covered in flames which prevented me to escape from there. Cursing myself for making such an amateurish decision, I looked around to see if there was another way out of here. The lights in this place were barely working, which made it hard to see. Turning on my flashlight on my vest, I saw that a metal balcony was partially blown up by the explosion I caused. It was lowered enough to the point to where I could climb onto it and see where it leads.

Going around the walkway, I was walking around some more when something to the right startled me. It wasn't a person or another explosion, but just the cover of a fan opening up. This place was making me too tense right now. Moving on, I reached another generator room with some of the power barely working. This place was now starting to rock a bit from the blast earlier. I doubt it would destroy the entire complex, but it would probably be a problem if I stayed here for too long. There really wasn't any doors or exits I could use in this place to get out. But there was a small hole in the wall where the pipes lead that I could crawl into. The hot steam coming off from the pipes almost made it unbearable to make it through.

After getting out the crawlspace, I reached another metal walkway. At the far end was a ladder I could use to climb upwards. Just as I was walking along on it, some big tubes or something fell down from above and destroyed the middle section of this thing. I must be in Hell right now, for all this terrible shit going on is making it difficult for me to stay calm. From here, there wasn't anywhere else I could go. It was from looking down this walkway I say another crawlspace underneath me I could enter. After doing so, I quickly reached another pipe room with a small ladder leading up. Climbing it, I saw nothing but empty boxes and trash scattered around this place with some parts of this room broken down.

Continuing on ahead, I reach an intersection. To the right was a room that I couldn't enter, due to a yellow pipe in front of the entrance spewing out flames. To the left I reached to where the ladder I saw earlier from the other side. Problem was, it too had another flammable pipe sticking out with fire pointed towards the ladder. Figures. Looking around some more, I saw another crawlspace just like the last one underneath this walkway. Climbing down, I crawled through the dark tunnel until I saw a room up ahead. Turning off my flashlight, I went over to the other end of this sound of something breaking caught my attention, to when I saw a skeleton drop down in the middle of the room. I heard the sound of quick footsteps up above me. Could those invisible things be here too?

After getting inside this room, I saw a red valve connected to the yellow pipes I saw just a moment ago. Maybe if I turn it, I can shut off the gasoline going on inside them and stop the fire. After I started turning it to the left, sure enough, the flames died down next to me. That was when I realized I was in that room I noticed earlier in that intersection. Exiting out of here, I reached the ladder again with this time no more fire blocking my way. When I reached the top, time slowed down for me. Jankowski was looking at me as he turned around the corner. He was staring at me with those empty holes where his eyes used to be. As I tried to reach out to him, he disappeared again, leaving me with a cryptic sentence.

"They left her in darkness. They left her to die."

What did he mean by that? Could he be talking about that little girl I keep seeing? I wasn't sure what to make of what he said to me. And who was it that could've done it to her? It was too hard for me to try to understand what he meant, for all that was on my mind was seeing "Jankowski" all bloody and pale. Then I guess it must be true. He was dead. Either it was Fettel or that girl, however it happened, Spencer Jankowski was dead. And at this point, we may never know how it happened. It was scary to think... that in his last moments he was probably by himself, confused and frightened... I had to stop thinking like this.

My focus was brought to the shaking of this part of the building. If I don't get out of here soon, this whole level might come down on me. Going down the hallway next to me, I reached a wide open storage facility. On these tall cabinets were multiple boxes of supplies and forklifts to help carry them. There was a silver fence a few feet away that looked like another section of this room, only the door for it was blocked off with some stuff on both sides. Next to me was where it looked like an elevator would come down. Unfortunately, the power was off which meant I would have to find a way to turn it on down here. Going down the ramp to the right, I turned around another corner to find myself in another part of this small facility.

To the right of me was another walkway above a sewage system. On one end of the this duct system was a metal fence halfway closed I could get under. The problem was there were a couple of boxes that blocking the underside of it that I may be unable to lift or push out of the way. Behind me, though, was another red valve by the wall. Seeing what it would do, I turned it to the right to see that it raised the amount of sewer water in the drainage. The boxes were floating up to the surface, making it available to swim under. Dreading the thought of going back in that filthy water, I worked up the nerve to hold my breath and got into the disgusting filth. After making it through the drainage a bit, I found a spot for me to come up for dry land.

I was now on the other of that fence I was at earlier. There was a power generator on the wall next to the fence. Pushing the lever up, emergency power was brought back to this place. I could tell because the switch for the elevator turned from a red to a blue color on its monitor, suggesting I can now use it. There was a ladder next to me I could climb up onto that hopefully would lead me back the way I came without going back into that sewage water. Climbing up, I went around the metal walkway up here until I reached back to where I turned the valve for the water. There was a destroyed balcony below me that I couldn't have used to come this way anyway.

Jumping down, I was now heading back to where the elevator would be coming down. Thank God, I can get out of here. Of course, easier said than done. And the reason I say that is because the elevator came down to this floor with 2 Replica soldiers and a Heavy Armor. Dammit... Well, I guess in order to get out of here I would have to kill them, for they were in the way from me to get over there. Just how on earth did they know I would be down here?

Putting aside my wonders for later, I pulled out my ASP and fired several rounds at the Replicas exiting the cargo elevator. The bullets made a nice, clean impact to the soldiers as they were quickly taken care of. Now onto their metal brute. With not ammo left over with this gun, I fired the remaining rounds I had of this rifle into the Heavy Armor. It only seemed to cause it minimal damage, for the bullets didn't quite make the impact. Tossing the ASP aside, I brought out my SMG and fired as many rounds to it as I could before it returned fire with its Penetrator weapon. It was slowly going around some of the cargo up ahead as it tried to take cover. Figuring if I could use the Replicas weapons against it for some extra damage, I quickly but cautiously ran up to where the dead soldiers were.

The Heavy was probably thinking that I was still over there. For the time that I reached on over to where it was, it was still looking over to where I last making my stand. The 2 Replicas I killed only had a SMG and G2A2 rifle available. It wasn't much to work with, except one of them had a proximity mine available on him. This will definitely help. I grabbed it and threw it on over behind the Heavy Armor. As it heard the sound of something drop, it turned around to see the round device at its feet. But it was too late for him, for the mine went off encasing the monster in a huge explosion. It wasn't dead yet, but it was definitely getting there. Grabbing the spare G2A2 on the ground, I opened fire at the beast with as much bullets in it until it eventually died. Giving out that death cry like all the others, I left it alone when I salvaged some more ammunition from the other Replica.

Seeing as how things have settled down, I went inside the cargo elevator and pressed the "Up" button. The gates closed as the machine started to ascend up...

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><p>Enjoy it? You better, took me a while to get this done, you jerks =P Reviews would be nice!<p> 


	11. Sayonara, Sucker

Alright, really been a long time since I decided to update anything. Been busy getting ready for school that I pretty much forgot my own story :O shocking I know! But anyway here is another short chapter for the fans. Hopefully next ones will be better, who knows right? =P

Do a barrel roll and enjoy!

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><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 06 - INTERCEPTION**

**SAYONARA, SUCKER**

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><p><strong><em>The "Point Man"<em>**

The elevator was still going up for a minute or so. On the way up, all I could do was think about how this day has been. To think, I woke up this morning just like any other American citizen, go to HQ to handle something that I thought would be a simple 15 minute mission... to now fighting for my life against clone soldiers, security forces, and my imagination. How could all of this happen to someone like me? I didn't do anything to deserve all this. My attention was brought towards Betters contacting me. I guess I was back up to where communications finally worked.

"Son of a bitch, I thought we'd lost you!" He said excitedly. Nope, not this time, buddy.

"While you were out of contact, I got a read on Fettel's transmitter. He's all the way on the other side of the research area from you. You're gonna have to hustle to intercept." After that, he signed off.

To be honest, I was really not looking forward to that part. It had been a while since I was on that objective until we had found Bishop. But if I were to kill Fettel, a lot of the problems we are currently facing would be resolved. And then have to figure out what Armacham's motives are. Guess we just have to handle one problem at a time as they come up.

The elevator finally reached the top of that this could go. The fence doors opened up to reveal I was in some kind of room for storing supplies. Nothing really unusual was here. In a small office in the corner, I saw about 4 Replicas entering this place. Taking cover behind some crates to the left, I waited for them to come out to where I could get a few clean shots. Before I did though, they were all talking to each other about some stuff.

"They lost sight of Norton Mapes in this area. He can't get far with the elevators locked down."

"Understood."

"The commander wants him alive and unharmed. He may know the location of the Vault."

What did they mean about a "vault"? Is there something important inside that Fettel wants? Also, I wondered how that fatty Mapes might be doing. His relevance to their needs sounded a bit fishy. Anyway, three members of the squad were all standing around waiting for further orders, while the last one was still inside the small office. Sneaking up to the one closest to me, I grabbed him by the neck and snapped it. The one in the office noticed for just a second until I shot through the glass and shot him several times.

The other two next to me noticed where I was and opened fire at me. Taking cover, again, by a support pillar was the only way I could avoid the gunfire. Activating my reflexes, I went out to the right where they tried to follow my movement. They weren't fast enough to try and shoot me when I returned fire at both of them. They went down without any trouble. I went through the small office after taking some grenades and magazines to where there was a thick glass door up ahead. It was very wide, and from here I couldn't open it due to security being locked down. Betters got a hold of me over the comlink.

"I've been trying to get through to Genevieve Aristide. She's the president of Armacham. I was able to confirm that she wasn't around when Fettel's men hit the compound, but I can't seem to track her down. Maybe she doesn't want to be found." He explained it all to before signing off.

Genevieve Aristide, huh? Didn't even know that the president of this place was a woman. So if she is not here, then where could she be? And from what Betters said, he couldn't get a hold of her. Could she be responsible for what ATC security is trying to do? Well, guess I'll have to figure that one later. Moving on, the door in front of me I wouldn't be able to use. There was some kind of door to the right of me though that looked like the kind that slide on over automatically when you walk up to them. Going through, I was in some kind of lab area with a bunch of stuff littered around. I guess scientists can be messy, too.

Making my way through the lab, I saw that there was a set of stairs next to me that led up. In front of me was another thick glass door that prevented me from going that way. But I could see from here some kind of monitor into another room that looked important. Maybe if I were to go around, I can figure out how it would help me. When i reached the stairs, I saw an empty bag of "Cheeze Poofs" on the floor. I had a feeling who went this way. As I was going up the steps, I heard a nervous shout of "Hello? Who's there?".

When I reached up to the top, I saw Norton Mapes crouching behind a couch holding a cactus above his head. I really hoped that the cactus would be to throw at someone, instead of just being a silly disguise like how he was doing it. There were some more bags of those cheese snacks on the couch and next to him that were both empty. This guy really should have been more discreet about his... "hiding spot." When he saw me, he tensed up for a second before he recognized me.

"Oh, it's you... Christ, I thought I was a goner." I think yelling "Hello, who's there?" like that wouldn't have been the best option if you're hiding from someone.

"Mr. Mapes, you're still alive." Betters replied with a displeasurable tone.

"No thanks to you guys." He told us. Okay, now I wanted to punch him across the face for that one.

"What are you doing here?" Betters asked him.

"The elevators are offline and those soldiers are everywhere. You've got to find a security office and override the lockdown." Mapes explained. Why does this sound familiar?

"Are you going to stay put this time?" Betters said.

"On my honor." Mapes flatly told him. I knew I wasn't going to like this.

It would be too much trouble to take him now if the soldiers were running around here. He would definitely get in the way, and there wasn't anywhere else to where he could stay put until we found a way to extract him. Leaving him alone - again - I went through another hallway to where I reached some small rooms for the employees to work on. One desk inside had a set of proximity mines I could use for later. Storing those onto my belt to hang on to, I went inside another office to where saw something... strange

There was a vent inside another room up ahead that was open with someone's legs sticking out. It was moving very irregularly. As I got closer to the window to look inside, the person fell down to the floor completely covered in blood from the waist up. He was another one of Armacham's scientists, looking like in his 40's. He had a horrified expression on his face with his eyes and mouth wide open. Poor bastard... Blue electricity went through the small vent that he came from. I'm sure I knew what did this. Going inside, I saw that there was a phone next to the body on a desk. It had a voicemail leftover to which I pressed play on. From the message, it sounded like a woman.

"Jason, it's me! I just saw the news! What's going on! Please call me back and let me know you're okay! I'm really freaking out..."

Shit, it was a bit hard for me to think that this guy here was Jason. And whoever it was that left the message doesn't know what happened. However, it wasn't my place to do anything about. If I encounter those invisible things again, I'll have extra reason to kill them. Getting back out into the hallway, I saw another electronic door that led into another lab. Passing through it, I was now into another large hall to where some thick glass windows showed a room of more laboratory stuff. I heard some Replicas shout "Squad, on me!" to the left to where I was. Moving cautiously over there, I was at another lab workspace just up ahead to where there was 6 Replicas entering the place from the other side. But these ones looked a bit different than the others.

They had on pretty much the same equipment as the ones with the red visor and black vest, only they had some of the military type of camouflage clothing as the first set of Replicas. The biggest difference was that there was a single green light coming off from their helmets in the center. Other than that they looked more armored, they didn't have much of a difference compared to the others I've faced. There were about 3 of them heading on over to where I was, but they hadn't noticed me yet. Carefully placing a mine by the entrance to where they couldn't see it, I waltzed back a bit and waited. And sure enough, the mine went off just as the soldiers noticed it. However, it only got one of them as the other two were still quite a distance away from the blast.

The explosion did alert the other three to what happened, leading them to take positions to try and attack me. Now or never, I rushed in with my reflexes heightened up and opened fire horizontally as I was running on over. But because of their thicker vests, the chest shots I made only managed to kill about two of them, which were the ones closest to me. Looking at the ground, I saw that one of them had a shotgun that I could probably use to make this easier. Since the other three were now taking cover, I ran over to where the shotgun was and picked it up, with my SMG put away to the side.

Getting closer to where they were hiding, I still used my quick reflexes to jump on a desk next to them were I could overlook where they were. They were all shocked to see and tried to kill me right then and there. I kicked the soldier closest to me across the face knocking him back just as I brought the shotgun and fired a few bursts towards the other two. The shells connected to both of them to where they were flown back towards the wall. From here, it looked like they were dead. The one I kicked tried to get back when hit him over the helmet with the butt of the VK-12. I guess the extra blow to the head must've done quite a number on him, for he sure as hell didn't get back up. Two more of them entered the room to the right of me, and were shocked to the carnage of their fallen squad. Pulling out my gun, I quickly fired at both of them before they could even fire a bullet.

Going past them, I entered another lab and passed some halls when I reached another big laboratory. There were two Replicas coming up from a set of stairs to the bottom left of where I was. They hadn't notice me, but they sure noticed the grenade I tossed over to them when I saw them. It went off encasing both of them into the blast, killing them. Going on over there, after grabbing some more ammo and grenades, I went down to where they came from. It was another section of pipes attached to the wall that led me into another large laboratory. There was one of the regular kinds of Replicas waiting all across the other side of here behind a dolly. He yelled out "This way!" and tried to shoot me.

Taking cover, I waited for him to reload his G2A2 rifle. When he had to, I came back out fired my SMG back to where he was crouching at. After killing him, I climbed up the steps in front of me to reach higher into this room. Another Replica was coming out from another door to the left as he just saw me. Firing at him too, his body collapsed to the ground, him screaming in pain as he died. Reaching up towards the door, I saw a black laptop to the right of it on a shelf with some documents on the screen. I went over that and saw that the information was about Armacham. I sent it to Betters with him replying back to me just a few seconds afterwords.

"Here's some more info about Fettel. He was developed as part of a project called 'Origin'. It says the first prototype didn't work out. Fettel was the second and there was never a third. They pulled the plug a few years after he was born." he explained until he got off the channel.

I remember hearing about this "Origin". Bill Moody said that word before he died back at the Treatment Plant. At the time, I wasn't sure what to make of it. But now I have a slight idea of what it is. Origin must have been part of Armacham trying to produce commanders to control clone soldiers. Whatever happened to the first one they tried to use, Fettel made up for later. Good thing that there wasn't a third, either. But I wonder what it was that made them decide to stop the program. Did something terrible happen back then?

Getting back to figuring out how to turn on the elevators, I went past the door to another hall. To the left was another electronic door only it seemed to be jammed for sparks were coming out from it. To the right was a balcony overlooking the lower floor. Nowhere else to go, I hopped on over the ledge and hit the floor with my boots. There was another ledge for the upper level ahead of me, to where two Replicas were standing next to just as they saw me. One yelled out "Fire in the hole!" as he tossed a grenade to my position. Quickly, I ran as far as I could from where it would land to the wall away from where the grenade went off.

The Replicas were a bit surprised that I managed to get away from it, especially as one of them said to the other "He's too fast!". Oh, I'll show them fast. Bringing my SMG out once again, I opened fire to the two soldiers above me. They didn't have the time to take cover for the bullets that hit them were clear through the head. One of them was next to me on the ground here for he came around the corner a few feet to my right. He didn't stand a chance either, for he too was mercilessly gunned down from the barrel of my RPL machine-gun.

Continuing, I had finally reached the control room with that monitor I saw a while ago. When I entered it, I saw a phone built into the wall with a voicemail. I pressed "play" on it for the machine to start. A message was left by Genevieve Aristide, the woman Betters talked about earlier who was the president of Armacham HQ. Maybe whatever she has to say will make some sense here.

"John, it's Genevieve. It seems the Senator's plan failed. His special forces team has been unable to neutralize Fettel. We should assume the worst. Instruct the security force to repel all outsiders. We need time to clean things up."

I was wrong. Now things just got more confusing. Who is this "Senator" she said? Obviously he sounded like an important figure for the events going on. But the reason ATC security is out to silence their employees was to clean up a mess? It really made me wonder what it is that is so bad that Armacham feels to kill their own people so that no one else finds out. Back to the monitor, I saw where I could activate the elevators with a switch that would activate it. After doing so, I saw that the lockdown system was turned off. The lockdown also opened the doors with the thick glass on them.

Speaking of the thick doors, the ones next to me opened as well. I also remembered that these were the same stairs I took to find Mapes. As I exited out of this room, I went back up the stairs to look for Norton. I saw him inside one of the activated elevators as he pressed the button to close the doors. Before they closed all the way, he looked at me with a trickster type of smirk as he shouted out:

"Sayonara, sucker!"

Goddammit, I couldn't believe that even after my suspicions of him running off would happen again that... I let them happen anyway. Betters contacted me saying "At least he's predictable" in a sarcastic manner. Whatever Mapes' motives might be to handling us, that is just something I'll have to punch out of him to get. Not like when I reach him he'll be hard to hit.

There was a door to the side that led into the elevator shaft. The elevator Norton used was already in a floor just above me. There was a ledge behind where the machine goes that led to a yellow ladder I could use to climb up. After doing so, there was another ladder next to me that I could use to climb further upwards. When I reached the top, the only other way out of here was a vent on the other side of this ledge. Carefully going on it, I reached the vent holder and kicked it open with my boot.

Crawling inside, I went through the ventilation systems. Hopefully Mapes didn't get too far...

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><p>Reviews would be great to have! Not that I get much, but hey better than nothing xD<p> 


	12. Unauthorized Personnel

Okay, here is another chapter for the 6th Interval. This one I decided to do a bit different with how the Point Man handles his next adversaries compared to how I and most people played this chapter in the actual game. I don't own anything that Monolith has created, which is this game series and its plot in case you didn't know :P

Read along!

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><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 06 - INTERCEPTION**

**UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL**

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><p><strong><em>The "Point Man"<em>**

As I was making my way through the ventilation, I stopped to see some kind of round cylinder sticking out next to some vents. It had a weird looking design to the side that I wasn't sure what to make of. Anyway, I eventually got out of the vents by climbing down a yellow ladder down into a hallway. Moving around corner after corner, I reached an open area next to a closed shutter gate. There was a security office next to it, with Norton Mapes next to a switch inside. He looked at me with an annoyed expression as he said:

"Oh perfect, you again." He pointed at a button next to the switch for the gates.

"See this button? I wonder what this does..." He pressed it as something came down from the ceiling.

Now I knew what that round cylinder was. It was a container for Armacham's security machine-gun turrets. An alarm went off, and when it came down, it recognized my presence and aimed towards me. Norton gave out a little "Oopsy" as he smiled over the situation. I really couldn't wait to beat the crap out of him later. Taking cover next to the wall out of the turret's line of sight, I saw Norton exit the office as he gave out a "Bye bye now." At the moment, I have to figure out what to do with this machine. I don't know how armored that thing is, but I have to figure out how to get pass it.

Only thing I had that could do the job was the VK-12 shotgun. Pulling it out, I waited for the turret to stop firing at me after several seconds. Looking back out for just a moment, it was just circling to the left looking for any hostiles. It had a blind spot underneath that the gun couldn't reach that I could exploit. Quickly, I ran up under and fired as many shells into as I could when the machine eventually blew up. It must've taken about 6 shells as necessary to destroy that thing, and that was up close too.

Looking around, I really wasn't sure where to go. With the gate closed and the elevator next to me that Mapes used disabled, I had limited options. That was when I remembered the round cylinder for this turret I saw in the vents. With curiosity going through my head, I climbed back up the ladder I just used a while ago and made it back to where I came here.

Indeed, the cylinder for the turret was lowered and showed a path I could use to get out of here. After kicking down the vent holder on the ceiling, I jumped down on the other side of the fenced gate. I entered the room where Mapes was to see if I could do anything to the security, but unfortunately there was nothing I could do about it. Heading back out, I went around the corner to reach a long open hall where only some of the lights were working. An announcement was made over the speakers ceiling with a female voice saying:

"Automatic defense measures are active in this area. Unauthorized personnel will be shot on sight."

Oh, shit... And just after it said that, an alarm went off. One of those defense turrets came down from the ceiling from the other side of this hall. I took cover by a wall to the left before it could see me. If I went down there, that thing would kill me for sure. And I'm sure if there is more around here, I don't enough bullets to destroy them all. I would have to figure out ways around them if I have any chance to escape. Looking towards the middle of the hall, there was a fenced door I could use to sneak past it. The only problem was the padlock on the door. But that one was easily taken care of as just one shot of my handgun was enough for it to come off.

I ran on over there as quickly as possible to avoid getting shot at. There was some kind of lever on the wall onto a generator on the wall next to me. Pushing it down, some power in this place stopped working, except for the occasional lights in the corners of the halls. A yellow flashing light went through the entire area as the Armacham defenses went back up in the ceiling. Guess I found a better way than fighting these things, after all. Entering the room on the other side of where I was, I appeared to be in another lab with a black laptop on a table in the middle. Some of the files seemed important, so I went over there and transferred them all to Betters. He got a hold of me a moment later.

"There's a little more on Origin. The reason they shut it down was a 'synchronicity event.' Doesn't say what it means, but I guess there were a few casualties." He finished as he got offline.

Hmm, so something terrible did happen. We just weren't sure what it is, yet. If I keep my eyes open, I just might soon. Making my way through a couple more labs, I reached another hall past a sliding door. Another turret came down from the ceiling to the right of me. Trying to find a spot to hide so I didn't get killed, there was a lowered section underneath the floor ahead I could use. Rushing over there, I took cover by some pipes to where the machine couldn't see me. A small crawlspace was available for me to go around through the vents as I reached an open area of desks.

Another turret came down as it was looking for me. Taking cover next to a desk and laying face down, I crawled on through to find a way around it. Just who builds these things anyway in working areas, anyway? There was a room up ahead I could enter with an unlocked door, but it was too far for me to try and make it through without getting shot at. Moving along to the left, I'd seen another vent holder off near the corner of the wall. Firing at it with my pistol, enough of the holder came down to where I could go into. When the turret was looking the other direction, I ran over there as quickly as possible inside.

After going through the ventilation, I found another exit to where I knocked off the ventilation lid. I appeared to be in some kind of storage closet. Exiting through the door, I saw that I was just a little bit closer to that door. However, the defense mechanism was still on and guarding the entrance. As it turned to the right, I used all the strength in my legs to take me towards that entrance. And I sure cut it close, too, for that machine was just firing at me as I was making my to this room. Through the window to the next hallway ahead of me, I saw Mapes running off to the left. For a guy with that much weight, he sure can run.

Trying to catch up to him once again, I looked around this place to find another door to the right of here. After getting out, another one came down to the hall on the left. There was a fenced door next to me, but I couldn't open it from this side. Taking cover behind some crates, the machine fired almost a seemingly set of rounds to where it last saw me. Peeking out from the crates, I saw a small open passage in the wall with some pipes that looked like it led somewhere. Waiting for the turret to stop firing and turn the other way, I quickly went around the crates and into the passageway. Going around it, I reached the other side of this fenced gate and saw another generator with a lever on it. I flipped it up, and like before, the turret was deactivated as only some power was working in this area with yellow flashing lights.

After getting out, I head back the way down the hall where the machine was and turned around the next corner. There was a window that I could see into a small lab. And inside was Norton trying to squeeze through an open vent on the wall. With him trapped, it will be easy to sneak up on him. The door to this room was on the left side from where I could see. But as I reached the door, it seemed to have been jammed for it wouldn't open all the way. Looking back inside, I saw that Norton had already gotten away. Just barely missed him...

Not much for me to go to, there was another long open hall with a ramp leading down I went to. At the end was just more supplies and a path available to the left. There was a door that led into another office to the right, but just as I reached there, another turret appeared further down this hall. I'm really getting tired of the same shit. Heading inside, I waited for the turret to stop firing before I could think of a way around it. A phone with a voicemail was lying around on the desk next to me. I pressed "play" on it to hear that the message was from Bill Moody. That was the same guy I saw die at the Plant...

"This is Bill Moody. Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, but we got a little behind schedule. I'm still out here at the South River Treatment Plant. Anyhow, I've got some preliminary results for you. All the compounds you had me test for are present, although the concentrations are significantly higher than expected. I should have a complete report on your desk Monday morning. Talk to you soon."

Well, he sure sounded more alive back then when he made this call. This was definitely either from yesterday or several hours ago before Fettel and his forces arrived there. Which after I take Mapes into custody - if possible - Fettel is definitely next on my ass-kicking list. There was another vent holder next to one of the desks that I broke down with the butt of my shotgun. Going to the left, I stopped at an intersection to where I could either keep going forward or to the left. Checking the forward path, I stopped at the end to where I couldn't get out due to more boxes piled up. Peeking out, though, I saw a body of a dead scientist on the floor as blue static was nearby. Quick footsteps were heard near where I was in front of me.

For a moment, I stopped and considered something that I regretted that I did. If these things are invisible at almost all times... was it possible that they are seeing every move I make? Could they be behind me almost all the time, spotting me from afar to warn the Replicas. And if so, that meant I'm more vulnerable then I think I am. That they could be right next to me... I had to brush off those kinds of thoughts, for my paranoia would keep on growing if I kept doing that. And if I did, then I would let everything else that's been bugging me today really get on my nerves.

Heading back the way I went, I came back to the intersection and took the other way around. Knocking down the holder with my foot, I looked back out to see I was just behind the turret's line of sight. In front of me was some stairs that led up to where some more supplies are. But the way around the ledge of that stuff was another door I could enter to. Hopefully this one isn't broken down either. Jumping down, I ran as fast as possible to the stairs and up the ledge. And good thing, too, for the machine saw me and tried to hit me with all those bullets it kept firing. Laying low, I crawled through while staying next to the ledge to avoid its gunfire.

Eventually, I made it to the door and thanked God that it was still working as I entered the next room. It was just some small place for maintenance, no different than the others I had seen before. I really hope that I'm not just going around this place in circles. Heading down the stairs here, I saw another place to walk through some more pipes by the wall. There was another intersection I could take here, both paths leading left to right. Taking the right one, I went all around the pipes to the end to where it went around a big one in a corner. Looking at the corner, I saw another body of a scientist lying there in a pool of his own blood. A light blue static of electricity was seen across from the pipes in front of me as footsteps were running away from where I was.

It's official, these things are just fucking stalking me. Raising my shotgun, I went back around down the passage. It's long path filled with only a few yellow lights made it uneasy to walk all the way back. Going the other direction of this intersection down to the other end was the only available path I could take. At the end of it was a ladder to the right of me I could climb up to. After doing so, I reached another small closet room with some machines to the side. Using one of the electronic doors, I exited out to see I was now on the other side of a thick glass door from where that last turret was.

Heading down the hall, I went around another corner to where I ended up in a wide open area with a glass ceiling above me. As I looked up, two Replicas came down from a couple rappel lines as a chopper was heard flying away from my position. At least these guys I knew I could take care of. Before they could come all the way down, I brought out my RP submachine gun and opened fire at both of them. There was no way for them to defend themselves for they were easily disposed of. Hearing the cry of a Replica shouting "It was over there.", I hid behind a support pillar in front of me.

There were two more soldiers coming from another large open hall on the other side of this place. They must have been inspecting to see what happened, for they had their weapons drawn in case of anything. Time to give them a reason to do so. Coming out from where I was hiding, I fired my gun down towards both of them as they were distracted by the corpses of their squad. They, too, were easily taken care of as their bodies dropped to the ground with just a few more rounds. Reloading my SMG, I carefully went down the path they came from to see if there were anymore of them around.

Continuing down the hall, I saw another one to the left I could take. But before I did, I heard two different types of gunfire up ahead. Sneaking up to the corner of another open area, I saw that in the middle was some type of advanced lift. It was very wide and seemed to be used for shipping cargo and similar stuff to the upper floor above me. However, it was offline and didn't seem like it would work from here. As for the gunfire, I saw three Replicas shooting at another defense turret. Surprisingly, the turret was eventually destroyed as the squad was trying to recover from the bullets it fired back at them. For once, I was happy that there was something trying to kill me... trying to kill them.

With them so busy trying to stand up from the struggle they just had, it was easy for me to deliver the coup de' grace as I fired just a few bullets into each and every one of them. It didn't seem like there were anymore of them, so I checked around and salvaged some ammo and grenades from their corpses. Thankfully, these guys have been easy to kill so it was actually kind of a relief. Anyway, I went back down the hall I passed earlier to enter a lab that connected to several rooms. Finding nothing of importance, I went back to the larger room and went around to another open hall.

It eventually took me to another open area with a wide elevator that I could use. Problem was, in order to lower it, I had to find the control booth to bring it here. And sure enough, there was one next to me, only the path to it I had to find. Looking around, I picked up a couple of grenades as I saw a small hallway that I could take that at the end. There were two discoveries at the end of it. One wasn't really so special, for it was just a giant sealed door for security. The other, though, was a freaking rocket launcher. No, seriously, a rocket launcher. Just leaning on the wall next to a mechanical door.

I recognized this kind, too. It was an MOD-3 Multi-Rocket Launcher that could hold 15 missiles. As in "multi", it meant it could fire 3 rockets at once at the press of a button. However, it was too heavy for me to carry around and I couldn't imagine what I would need this for. Shame, too. It would really help. Heading inside the room next to me, I went around to find the control mechanism for the lift. I pressed just one button and it came down in just a matter of seconds. What was on this lift was... something I didn't expect.

It was some kind of silver machine or something, one I had never seen before. It had the humanoid structure of a regular person, only it easily towered over it. Like 9 feet tall or something. Not only did it have strong mechanical legs to help support the weight, it had a couple mounted weapon to where its arm were. It had equipped dual-wielding rocket launchers on its arms. The center of this giant had the initials "REV6" painted over it's "face" which was just a round object. Oh yeah, and speaking of those mounted rocket launchers... it was aiming those right towards me.

Getting the hell out of the way, the sound of multiple missiles breaking through the glass and hitting the wall behind me sure got me jumpy. Just how in the hell am I supposed to take on something like that! It was way too armored for me to destroy with conventional means and there wasn't enough ammo lying around to use. That was when I remembered that rocket launcher. That kind of firepower just might do the trick to take this thing down. Quickly, I headed back towards where it was to find it still on the ground. I lifted the heavy weapon up and tried to get a good grip on it. The armored machine was coming from the end of this hall. Time to fight fire with fire.

Aiming the MOD-3, I waited for the metal beast to come closer until I got a clear shot. And as soon as I did, I pressed the trigger as 3 multiple rockets flew towards my target. Even though it took those 3 rockets head-on, it still kept on going to my position. As it began to fire more rockets, I went back inside to the room to avoid getting killed. Taking the MOD-3, I went all the way around back out to the wide lift. Pretty sure that thing couldn't fit through doors, it came back to where it first showed up in hopes of finding me. As it came back into view, I fired 3 more rockets at it. It seemed to be staggered for a bit as I fired several more at it.

The "REV6" - as its cover said - was trying to shoot at me with its artillery, I ran on over to the right of this place as fast as I could. As it was trying to fire some more at me, I fired my own set of missiles at it. When they connected, I saw that the machine was starting to malfunction. It had electricity and smoke coming out of continuously as it tried to keep its balance. This gave me the perfect chance to fire the remaining ammo in this thing at metal monstrosity. After I fired the last rockets, they made contact to this thing and blew it up into several pieces. As it did, I noticed that this "thing" wasn't really a machine, after all. There was blood and limbs scattered across from where this thing fell apart. So someone was piloting this "REV6" the whole time.

Tossing aside the empty rocket launcher, I went on over to the wide cargo lift in the middle of the room I brought down. Thankfully, there weren't anymore of those armored units when I reached the top. All that was up here was stacks of crates and boxes put onto some cabinets and lying around. There was a hallway I found in the corner I went to where there was a small office space in the middle of it. It, too, had nothing important inside, so I kept on going.

I reached the top for where the other lift goes only to find the way out of here was with a red ladder leading up to a walkway. I climbed up onto the walkway to find a crawlspace I could enter. Entering inside, I reached to what must've been the ceiling of some kind of room, for there were now tiles in front of me instead of gray cement. There was an open spot for me to drop down into which I did right away. I ended up just outside of some kind of chemical laboratory. And the reason I knew that it was one was because of the announcement inside it.

"Warning. Toxic substance detected. Emergency lockdown in effect."

Inside the laboratory I could see a yellow gas like material floating through the air. The door to the room was locked, preventing the material to further leak here. And my gut told me that I have to go that direction anyway. And that a certain fatass must've done this. Looking around this hall, I saw there was another ladder behind a fence that I could climb up. After climbing that, there was another a few feet from me that I climbed up as well that led me to the ventilation systems. The fans to the left of me actually gave off a cool breeze, which is something that was nice to have for once.

Climbing underneath some small pipes in the ceiling here, there was a vent holder above a room. Knocking it down, I jumped inside to reach the control room for the ventilation. Reaching towards the device in the middle here, I activated the fanning system for the chemical lab that was just below where I was. After a few seconds, the yellow gas evaporated away as the announcement said "Emergency cancelled." That took care of that. To the right of me was some steps that led to a desk where there was a phone blinking red. It had two voicemails on it, with the first one announced from Bill Moody.

"Hey, Janice, it's Bill Moody. Iain Hives sent me down to the South River Treatment Plant to do some wastewater analysis. I'm concerned about my findings since that effluent comes from residential areas. It may be originating in Auburn, which might actually explain a lot. I'm gonna send you a copy of my report so that you can make sure the proper people are informed."

Hmm, so that did confirm what Betters was talking about earlier about something being connected with Armacham and the Auburn district. Especially if they had sent their own people to do their own check-up for that mess. But what could have been responsible for people not wanting to live there? Anyway, I paid attention to the next message which was played by that Iain Hives fellow.

"Janice, it's Iain. Wanted to give you a heads up that you might be getting a call from Bill Moody. I think the best course of action would be for you to act like you give a shit about his concerns. I think all he really wants is to believe that someone in authority is taking the ball and running with it. I think I fucked up by blowing him off, so I'm guessing he'll run to you. Anyway, let me know how it works out."

That sure made me curious. So one hand, some people are hired to investigate the disturbance all the way out there. But on the other, their higher ups are a little upset about them even doing their jobs in the first place. Well that doesn't make sense. Maybe it will further down the line, who knows. The door next to the control panel had some stairs that led down to the chemical lab. There was another door in the corner I could use to get out of here. But before I did, there was another laptop on the table here with some information up about "Origin". After sending it to Betters, he got a hold of me of what I found.

"This is interesting. When they pulled the plug on Origin, apparently they just locked the doors and threw away the key. They don't go into a lot of detail, but I guess the place was really dangerous to be in. I wonder if it was some kind of chemical leak or something."

Somehow, I had a feeling that might not have been the case. I don't know, maybe I want to suspect that it's something deeper than we might really know. But to all the trouble Armacham is trying to cover up, it sure sounded a bit silly if was something as simple as a leak. If Fettel was part of this "Origin", then maybe the information we can get off him before we kill him might reveal more on what happened there. As for Mapes, right now he might be too far gone from where I am to apprehend him. Until then, I might as well continue my search for Fettel.

Exiting the lab, I entered a long white hallway which branched off into two directions. The right one was sealed off by security, so only option I had was to take the left one. Going that way, I reached the balcony which was above where those Replicas were rappelling down a while ago. Moving on, I made it to another hall that was blocked off by a security gate. There was a room inside that I could enter though, which of course I did. A desk here was low enough for me to climb over to where that gate blocked the path earlier. But before I would do that, there was some kind of control panel with a monitor next to it.

The monitor appeared to be a screen for one of the turrets I encountered earlier, only I could manually use this one. From the camera inside the machine gun, I could see almost a whole army of Replicas scouting a set of cubicles. This must be just a few rooms ahead of where I was. With a devilish idea in mind, I decided that now is the perfect chance to get back at these motherfuckers. Using the switch and controls of the defense turret, I rained fire at all the Replicas into the room. The bullets easily pierced through their armor as they desperately tried to get away.

More and more of them were still around as they entered the room. They were coming in one by one as they tried to destroy the machine I was using. The defense turret was taking some damage, but I had to use it for as long as I can to thin out their ranks. Eventually, after killing what must have been about 20-25 of those soldiers, the machine started to reach its limit. Good timing, too, for that was when it seemed the coast was clear. I got off the control panel to turn towards the desk. Hopping over, I reached the hall behind the security gate.

Going around the halls, I reached where all those dead Replicas were found lying around. I sure made a mess. Reinforcements seemed to have arrived, for one of them shouted "Team, spread out." My back to the one of the cubicles nearby, I peeked around to see about 6 more of them coming in here. I had thought of going back to use the turret, but that quickly changed when they saw the turret offline and shot it to hell. So much for that...

Taking out my SMG, I aimed carefully at the trio of soldiers standing around. Attacking all 6 of them with gunfire, I only got about two of them when the rest were now hiding into the cubicles. Putting back the RP, I took out the shotgun and readied myself for a fight. Two of them came out trying to shoot me from where I was. I ran on over to the cubicle opposite of while blasting those too with shells. After they were taken down, I crouched down, ready to take on the last two. This time instead of both of them coming out, only one came towards me while the other soldier had already begun to chuck a grenade over to me.

If I had gone back to take cover or go anywhere at all, the other soldier would definitely gun me down from afar for sure. Activating my reflexes, I aimed up to where the grenade was as it was still in the air. Slowly, it was coming towards me as it was just above the other soldiers head. Raising my pistol, I steadily fired a single bullet to where the round explosive was. One shot was all it took, too, since it went off and killed the Replica underneath it. The top half of his body was surely unrecognizable from where I was standing. The other Replica saw the carnage I caused from their plan as he looked up to see what happened. My pistol in hand still, I fired about three or four rounds into both his head and neck, enough to kill him. After putting away both my pistol and shotgun back onto their holsters, I got back on my two feet.

Getting back out into the open, I raised my submachine gun and carefully went through these workplace's. I reached an open door next one of the cubicles that led out into another hall. Before I got too far, gunfire was heard from the room ahead of me. Glass shattered as the body of an ATC guard fell to the ground from above on the upper level. A Replica said calmly "Resume patrol." as him and two others were moving around the balcony overlooking the room. Taking out one of my spare grenades, I tossed it on over to where the patrol was. They tried to get back from where they came until the blast went off. There were definitely no survivors on that one.

A hall that led to some vending machines was to the left of me with some steps that I could take up. After doing so, I was now walking around the balcony of where these soldiers were. Gunfire followed my trail as I saw two more of those soldiers on the other side from here in a dark lounge area. Using my reflexes again, I quickly disposed of them with the remaining rounds of the RP machine gun. After reloading, I went into the lounge area and turned around the next corner up ahead. There were a set of elevators to the left, one of them having massive amounts of blood in front of it. Continuing on there was a lab at the far end of the hall, but there was nothing important inside. Heading back out, the hall to the right of me ended with a security gate in place. To the right of it was a glass railing with a lower floor below it I could hop on over.

I climbed over it and landed into the darker parts of this building. Don't know why, but I was getting a bad feeling from this place...

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><p>I haven't gotten any reviews in a while, but some people have favored this story so maybe they will say something about how I'm doing xD Hope you enjoyed it!<p> 


	13. Afterimage

Thanks to Wings of Reparation, I finally have some motivation to continue this story since he seems to be one of the only one reading this and giving me feedback. Thanks a lot, Wings! But anyway, this is probably one of my favorite chapters. The stuff that goes on here really sets the mood of F.E.A.R. that I loved playing on my PC. To be honest, I have a few chapters already finished at this point so I might be updating sooner than what I usually do, so stay tuned!

Mazel tov! Not sure what that has to do with this chapter, but I always wanted to say it =D

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><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 06 - INTERCEPTION**

**AFTERIMAGE  
><strong>

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><p><strong><em>The "Point Man"<em>**

From where I jumped down to, I seemed to be in in the part of the building with some power not working. Shadows and darkness took up most of my sight in this place, with the occasional light bulb sticking out from the halls. When I moved forward a few feet, an alarm went off as another one of those turrets came down. But just as soon as it did, the alarm seemed to have died out with sparks coming out of the machine. The defense turret then came down to the ground on its own, as if something sabotaged it. Don't know how, but I'm not going to complain my fortune.

Some piles of blood were on the floor in front of me and behind the counter next to me. Hard to tell when all of this might have happened. Going down the hall with a ramp on the right, Armacham's triple diamond-shaped logo was shown to the sides of the wall. Reaching the end of it, there was a room behind some thick glass that I could barely see into, for it was too dark for me to make out what was inside. Down the hall to the left was some small office rooms and another hallway around the corner. But before I reached the end there, someone slowly turned their head to look at me. A voice echoed into my head.

"It wasn't my fault..."

Before I could question what that meant, the person withered away into black dust. It was hard to tell who it was for he had some blood scattered across his face and chest. Seeing this guy reminded me of Spencer, Charles, and Moody who came to me in similar circumstances. Anyway, I kept on going to when I reached the corner that I saw a office with only one light working inside over a table. In there was another phone available with a blinking red light. I had pressed play while making sure nothing would surprise me from behind. The voicemail apparently from that Aristide woman.

"Iain, can you send me copies of any materials your task force has put together on the Origin anomalies? Harlan is supposed to be updating me daily, but apparently he's got his hands full with the grudge he insists on carrying. I hope he's not dribbling too much poison in people's ears. I take full responsibility for what happened to the team, but wishing won't bring them back. In any case, now's not the time for assigning blame. We have to work together as a team to get through this crisis. Thanks so much."

Just what on earth could've happened in there? I was almost a little worried to want to guess what might've gone on down there. Getting back out into the hall, there was an electrical door I could use to. Entering inside, I reached some kind of workplace for some machines and what not. Some lights were still working here, so that's a plus. Moving on, I was walking through the place when I saw someone on the other side of some windows from the other side of here. It was Paxton Fettel. He was just standing there watching me. When I walked up to the glass, I could tell for sure it was him. If the glass wasn't reinforced, I would've blasted him with my gun to end this crisis.

"You again..." he muttered with an annoyed tone. I also noticed he had some fresh blood over his mouth and jacket. Does that mean he killed someone here, too?

"They tried to bury their sins, but instead planted the seeds of their doom." As he said this, his body started to wither into the air until he was completely gone. Then... he wasn't really there? His voice echoed into my head as he said something to me that left my body frozen.

"A war is coming. I've seen it in my dreams. Fire sweeping over the earth, bodies in the streets, cities turned to dust... Retaliation..."

I wasn't sure why, but when he was saying all that to me... I almost felt like some kind of connection was made from him. It's hard to explain, but it felt kind of... familiar. Have we met before in our lives and I didn't know? What the hell am I thinking about...? That couldn't be, there was no way we had some history. He's a psychic, and as much as I hate to admit it, definitely a good one. All this crazy shit I'm seeing today started because of him when this mission began. And it's going to end with his death. That I promise, Fettel.

Leaving the area where I last saw him, I went to the right to reach the darker parts of this lab. Turning on my flashlight, I used it to help see where I could go. Suddenly, the cart next to me just moved. Not like on its own, but as though something was on it and jumped off it. God, this place is getting to me... After exiting this place with another electrical door, I went through a couple more long halls. There was another one with the lights actually working to the left of me. There was door alongside the middle of this place on the left I could enter. But as I was walking towards there, my sight turned to black.

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><p>I was now in the same hall I was where all that blood reached up to my waist before. Only this time, there wasn't any in here now. There was a lone stretcher lying out next to the door at the far end, with some blood dried out on it. The screams of a woman were heard ahead of me as a baby was crying. My body was compelled to go there... to understand.<p>

"I didn't know..."

It was that same voice I heard a moment ago before I had seen Fettel. As I reached the doors, with the windows all filthy and dripping with blood, the woman was screaming so loud that everything had turned to white.

"No!"

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><p>When I could see again, I was now on the other end of the hall where some vending machines were. Looking back, I saw that I passed the door I was originally going to. So was it another hallucination? But it felt so real this time. Even more than before last time I was there. A feeling of nostalgia went through my body, which I could not explain nor understand. It felt like the more of this I was experiencing, the more real they were becoming. Another voice had echoed through my mind, the same one as it did in that place.<p>

"I didn't understand... The dead... stay... dead..."

Maybe now was the best time to tell Betters. But as my hand reached the comlink, I stopped. Just how would I explain all this? No one else was reporting any unusual activity like the stuff I'm seeing. Or are they keeping quiet about it too? Goddammit, I don't know what to think anymore. I keep on going one direction on how to approach stuff, only to second-guess it a minute later. If I can finish this mission and take care of Fettel, then maybe all of this will be over. Hopefully... It has to...

Reaching the door, I opened it to see I was now in some kind of generator room. There was a partially open door to the left corner of this room I could take. But when I looked over there, a shadow of a person was seen at the far end. Raising my SMG, I carefully walked over there. Before I had reached the door, the light went out to the next room. Just as it came back on, the shadow was gone. Slowly, I peeked inside the next room to find no one there. The room I was in now was still connected to the generator, so I kept on going until I reached the next door on the other end. Before I opened it, there was some chatter heard on the other side.

"Any sign of Hives?"

"No. Looks like we missed the party." It was ATC security. Definitely sounded like them. Looks like they are trying to waste Hives as well.

Then it hit me. That person I saw back at that corner when I first came to this place... could that have been Iain Hives? I never saw him before, so I couldn't say for sure. But I remember seeing Fettel earlier with some fresh blood on his body. So, if these guys are looking for Iain, does that mean that Fettel got to him first? It was the only theory I had, because for some reason I really doubted I would be seeing that guy in this place.

Opening the door carefully, I looked out to see about three of ATC's guards patrolling the work area. It had some office supplies and medical equipment laying around on some tables and desks. They had their backs towards me which meant I could get the drop on them. Bringing up my SMG, I opened fire at all three of them one at a time before they could fight back. One turned around to see and tried yelling "Help!" before I killed him as well. Continuing on, I made my way to the other end of this room to where some stairs were at.

Going down, I stopped when the next set to the left led into the lower office area. There were three more of the guards coming into the area, probably as reinforcements for the previous squad. Throwing my last grenade to them, it made contact with one of them as it exploded, killing him and his two partners. Seeing as how the place was clear, I went down the steps to look around for a bit. There was a laptop on a desk to the far left of this place with some documents of ATC up. I sent all that to Betters to when he eventually contacted me.

"Get this. A few weeks ago, ATC reopened the Origin facility. They were planning to clean it out and start the program back up. But they lost contact with everyone they sent in. So they just sealed the place back up."

Was that what Aristide meant about sending a team down there? Did something bad happened there again for Armacham that they pretty much repeated the same mistake? They must have pulled some sick shit or something down there if they are going to these lengths to cover up a few secrets. Gonna have to keep my eyes open for anything else to find.

I went up ahead to a corner in the north side of the room to where I heard gunfire up ahead. ATC guards were yelling out "Help me!" as I peeked around the corner. There was a fenced gate in place in this hall to where I could see about 2-3 of the guards firing at something to the right of me. To the left was a door that led into a small security post to where some weapons and grenades were stockpiled in here. The window inside here showed the action going on down the hallway that had some elevators to the sides of this place. ATC security was facing off against a squad of Replicas with a Heavy Armor unit stationed at the far end of this area. They hadn't noticed I was watching them from here, as they were too busy trying to take the other out.

With the way things are going though, the Replicas were easily overpowering ATC's manpower. There was a door in here that led out to where the battle was taking place. If I opened it now, ATC would be distracted by my presence and be killed off by the Replicas. Before I did that, though, I restocked on SMG rounds, some shotgun shells, and a couple of hand grenades. Kicking the door open, ATC security was shocked to notice me as they turned their attention away from the current conflict. The moment that they did, the Replicas opened fire at where the guards were and disposed of them. Now to take care of them.

Tossing a grenade on over to them, it exploded on impact with the Heavy Armor, damaging it greatly as well as weakening the other soldiers. Bringing up my RP machine gun, I opened fire at the wounded soldiers before they were able to get back on their feet. All that was left was to finish off this monster-like Replica. It was advancing slowly to where I was while firing several nails from its Penetrator weapon. Using my heightened reflexes, I dodged to the left taking cover next to a tossed over vending machine. I waited for it to get closer before I came back up and shot it with several shotgun bursts. Soon enough, this thing died screaming out in pain after taking about 10 shells to the chest.

After reloading my guns, I went through the damaged hallway that the Replicas and ATC duked it out on. I had noticed that there were a few more bodies lying around on each side full of bullet holes and shrapnel covering their bodies. Thank God I didn't have to face them all earlier. The area to the left of the fork at the end of this place was closed off, so I took the right path that led to a darkened area of hallways. It was just some meeting rooms in here that appeared to be empty. Before I continued on, Betters contacted me.

"Shit, I think Fettel's going after that Alice Wade chick Bishop mentioned. Looks like he's heading for the executive building." Great, I can see where this is going.

"You've got to get to her before he does. She might be able to help us figure out what Fettel's after."

It's a long stretch, but he might just have a point. All the people Fettel has gone after have been important figureheads with Armacham one form or another. And since Alice is Harlan Wade's daughter, and that Harlan is one of the major players of ATC, it would make sense as to why Fettel would go after her. It was time for me to pick up the pace.

Going down this place, I went down a set of stairs that came down to the lower level. At the far, far end of this hallway was about two Replicas units turning around the corner and coming down here. I hid in the darkest parts of this hall and waited for them to get closer. As they were approaching my position, I blasted them both to hell with my shotgun as their bodies were flown back in agony. Heading further down here, I turned around the corner to another hallway with some open offices along the path. I had also found myself in front of two more Replicas walking towards me.

They didn't have time to shoot me for I fired at both of them with my shotgun. With this distance, I was lucky that I was even able to kill them from here. Before moving on ahead, I checked out each office one by one here to find anything of importance. All there was some spare ammunition and remote bombs on a table. There was also a phone with a voicemail. Only it wasn't anything special, for when I pressed play it was just some man saying "Hey, it's me. Call me, okay? I'll try your cell phone." I guess it would be too unusual if every phone I checked had something important to say every time I checked one out.

Going around the next corner, I had reached another room with several elevators to the left side. None of them were working, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was another squad of Replicas with another Heavy Armor in here. They had seen me and opened fire to where I was, with only my reflexes saving me by taking cover next to a support pillar. Grabbing one of the two remote bombs I got earlier, I threw it over back to where they where and pressed the switch activating it. The blast engulfed the two soldiers and the Heavy unit.

Getting back out of my cover spot, I brought up my shotgun and finished them all of with the loaded weapon. It all went pretty much the same way as earlier, with some major deja vu going on. With barely any shotgun shells remaining, I dropped it to the ground and quickly replaced it with the dead Heavy's Penetrator weapon. There was some spare ammo for it lying on the ground next to a closed shutter gate. After picking it up, there was a set of double doors leading outside onto a small balcony. Below me was an area I jump down to that I can probably use to take a shortcut to the Executive Building.

After I went down there, I was ambushed by two more Replicas firing at me from quite the distance up ahead. Carefully aiming down the sights of the Penetrator, I fired only two nails into each of the their heads as they instantly died and fell to the ground. Continuing on, I went past some plants in the center of the area underneath where those offices I was at were. And just when I thought that I was in the clear, something heavy at dropped down into the open area ahead of me. When the smoke settled, I saw to my surprise another one of those machines, the REV6 armored unit that I encountered a while ago.

My options were real limited here. I didn't have a rocket launcher to take this thing down, and the only way I could damage it would be with the grenades and Penetrator I was carrying. And like it's "predecessor" it had the dual set of rocket launchers on its arm joints that can easily kill me. Only other advantage I had is that this open space is easy enough for me to circle this thing while shooting at it. As it was coming towards me, it fired multiple rockets at once.

With some careful dodging, I jumped to the side while firing several nails from my gun into the beast. Some of them had not only hit its main chest area, but one of them also hit the arm joint causing some sparks to fly from it. Getting back on my feet, I used this window of opportunity to run up towards the machine as it was trying to get its arm back online. I opened fire with the Penetrator as each nail that was left in this magazine into its chest and limbs. With the Penetrator empty, I tossed one of my grenades on over to it as it exploded on impact to the REV6's legs. As the grenade went off, the entire mech unit blew up along with it as several pieces were flown off into several directions. A job well done.

Unfortunately, my job wasn't done yet. To the right, three Replica troops burst through the door to the building on the right on a ledge a few feet up. It was some of the more advanced soldiers, for they had on the red visors on their helmets. Opening fire, I only was able to kill about two of the three for the last one tried to take cover. He got back up and quickly and brought out some kind of weapon that I did not recognize. He aimed near from where I was, and fired some kind of purple light from the weapon towards me. I only barely dodged it by hopping over to the side by the wall closer to him. I don't know what on earth that thing is, but I shouldn't risk staying out in the open to get hit by it.

Peeking my head out, I saw him crouched down waiting for a chance to strike. From here, he was lined up perfectly for me to get him back. I pulled out my SMG and fired several rounds to him before he could have the chance to hide in another spot. He screamed out in pain as his body fell towards the ground face first. Seeing as how the coast was clear - this time, by the way - I went up on the small ledge where the soldiers came from. Before I entered the building, I inspected that strange device that one soldier have to see what it was.

It was some kind of special prototype weapon that Armacham has developed. These soldiers must've ransacked this from one of ATC's armory's. The details to the side of it described it as "ARMACHAM TYPE-7" with the words "Particle Weapon" underneath. Now this sounded familiar. One time during training, I had heard from some commanders about weapons built by some very heavy rich companies. Apparently, they can emit certain types of energy from a single source and cause devastating destruction to the body. From what I can tell from this thing, it had some kind of ammo cache inside it with the numbers to the side saying "6/10". Must've been how much shots left inside it. It wouldn't hurt to bring this along.

I had lifted it up on the ground, the extra weight on this thing made it a little hard to get adjusted. After getting used to it, I went inside and reached a wide cafeteria. The lights inside made it easy to see that there was a back door in the cooking area in the far back. Just as I had noticed that, I heard one of the Replicas somewhere ahead yelling "Kill the lights!". And sure enough, the power in this place went out as the place was now in total darkness except for the back room.

Three of them had come out from the room up ahead. Slowly, they scattered about separately as each one was trying to figure out where I could be. I had to take care of them now while I could still see them. Figuring I can test out this new weapon, I brought out the Type-7 and aimed at one of the soldiers. I had also noticed this had an enhanced scope inside the top half of this device that was about as good as one on a sniper rifle. After having my sight set on one of the soldiers, I had pressed the trigger button and watched as the purple-like beam at hit one of them.

Holy shit, it was amazing! As soon as the beam made contact, in the blink of an eye the soldier was reduced to nothing but a bloody skeleton. His armor, his flesh, had all been disintegrated into nothing. It seemed that this device can instantly kill someone from just one shot. However this thing works, I can definitely say that I am glad I did not get blasted by this earlier. The other two were definitely shocked over what just happened and tried to figure out where the shot came from. They hadn't notice me yet, so I had the chance to take care of both of them. After pressing the trigger twice for each of the Replicas, they had died just like the last one - their armor and skin were melted off from their bodies completely.

The feeling I had inside me now was both of amazement and worry. Sure, this thing is awesome that it can make it much easier to take care of my enemies... but it was disturbing to think that a company like Armacham can develop such terrible weapons of power to where any soldier or guard can wield. Until this mission is over, I have to tolerate that this kind of weapon exists and that ATC is making it. Heading into the back room, I reached the door to where the soldiers came from. Opening it, I saw that the next area was also in total darkness. Luckily, there was a switch for the power right next to me on the wall. After activating it, all the power in this part of the building came back.

Turning around the next corner, I ended up in some kind of storage supply. It was mostly empty in here, except for the two Replicas at the far end across from me. Just as they had seen me, I fired at both of them with the particle weapon but only managed to get one of them. The rate of fire on this thing was slow, for it would take several seconds for me to fire again. The other tried to exit with the door behind him, but just as he kicked it open, I had blasted him with the Type-7. Both of their remains were all that was left, and so too was this weapon. I had used up all of its ammunition, and so it was no good to have now. After exiting through the other door in here, I ended up in another hallway for this building. Betters then got a hold of me over the comlink.

"Goddammit! I lost Fettel's signal again! This transmitter is a piece of shit." he yelled out frustrated.

It seems my chances of finding him have gone down a lot, and I still have no idea where to find Alice Wade. The room I was in was completely locked down. Both ends of the hall were closed off by security and the only other room was just for security cameras that didn't seem to work anymore. The windows next to me led back outside to another building up ahead. From here, I could jump down some small ledges that I can reach to the ground below.

After breaking through the windows, I hopped down ledge after ledge until I was outside of what appeared to be the Executive Building...

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><p>Whew, this one was fun to do. And the good news is that the next one is even longer! xD Reviews would be cool, please<p> 


	14. Alice Wade

Alrighty, folks... This is without a doubt... the LONGEST CHAPTER... of this story. Over 9,000 words! Now that I said that, I'm gonna want to watch DBZ. Had to cram a lot of stuff in here to make it as close as possible to the actual chapter in the game. It was hard work, and took a lot of effort, but it was soooo worth it :D Anyway, I hope the one or three people who read this story have a blast, for the Point Man sure is tired of "blasting" entire armies of bad guys. wow, bad pun there.

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 07 - REDIRECTION  
><strong>

**ALICE WADE  
><strong>

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><p><em><strong>The "Point Man"<strong>_

Outside of the Executive Building, this place was completely dark. Empty tables and chairs were scattered all around the center of the plaza, obviously not been used for many hours. Barely any lights were working, with only some in working in an office space nearby. There was no door I could use to get inside, so I instead broke through the glass windows to the side. Exiting this place, I went around what seemed like a maze of hallways. One of them was completely blocked off by more security, the other one leading to a desk counter up ahead.

There was some sort of control room to the left of this place where a monitor was acting funny. The light inside it flickered a bit until it started working again. A door to the side was available for me to enter inside. The screen on the monitor then started to work, even if it was a little hard to see. All it showed was just some random hallway with some rooms on each side of it... that is, until I saw someone walking down there with their back towards the camera.

It was Paxton Fettel. He was slowly creeping through the hall with his arms stretched out. It looked like he was looking for something... or someone. His back was to the camera as he began to walk away from where I could see him. Then something else was coming onto the screen. It was black, almost round-like figure covering the camera. Only it wasn't just some kind of object. It was the same little girl that has been terrorizing me all day. She just stared at the camera with that empty, ominous look she had before. And for a moment... I began to think that she was staring at me instead. And just like that, the monitor was no longer working, with no signal available on it.

I wasn't sure what it was, but for some reason all that was on my mind was that girl. For the first time since I really had thought about it, I felt like I had some kind of familiarity with her. It was as if I know her from the past, only I had no idea. Could she have been involved in some mission I was in before this one? As hard as I tried, nothing came up. Why was it bothering me so much to know? I don't know, maybe whatever experiences I've had with her were probably nothing too special.

Getting back to the where I had seen that counter, I went over to the next room to where there were two elevators behind the desk. From where I was, I was now on the other side of that fenced gate I had seen earlier. The elevators didn't seem active, so I had to find another way around. Before I did though, I heard a small beep noise behind me. Looking back to where I heard the source of the sound, the screen next to one of the elevators was showing that one of them was heading towards this floor, coming from the 6th floor. Grabbing my SMG, I brought up and aimed at the metal doors, in case if it was a Replica ambush. As the doors opened up, there was no one inside.

It may have been a bit reckless to get inside, but I didn't have any options of getting out of here. I decided to maybe investigate the floor this elevator came from and see if anyone was there. After pressing the switch, the doors closed and the machine started to ascend. On the way up, the lights inside started to malfunction for they went back and forth between working or fucking broken. But it would be a lie if I said that was the strangest thing that happened. I swear to God, for a split second, when the lights worked for that short amount of time... that girl in red was standing in the corner next to me by the control panel.

Just as I noticed her, the lights went off again for a second again. Soon after, the doors opened to 6th floor. There was enough light in this place illuminating the room to where I can now see inside the elevator. She wasn't there anymore. Hopefully this time that because I was just thinking about her that I was seeing things again. Wishful thinking, I guess.

One section of this place led to another closed off area that I couldn't enter, so I went the other way to a small eating area full of tables and chairs. With all the vending machines nearby, I almost started to get a little hungry. If it weren't for all that training I been through to join the team, I'd probably be starving at this point since I haven't ate since before this mission started. There was a black laptop lying around on a table in the center of this room with some documents about Harlan Wade up. After sending the information to HQ, Betters got a hold of me.

"This Harlan Wade guy has been associated with Origin since the beginning. He's the one that put it together." he simply said.

After hearing that, I thought it was kind of funny. It was Harlan - who works for Armacham - that was responsible for what happened with whatever it was "Origin". And yet his own daughter is part of the same task force that is being hunted down for trying to find out some of Armacham's dirty secrets about it. I wonder if that guy even knows what he is putting his own daughter through...

Great, I keep getting distracted from all this thinking that I'm wasting time finding that Alice chick I'm supposed to find. Looking around, there was a small lounge area behind the counter to where all those boring employees go get their coffee. On the other end of this dining room was another exit I took to where I went through a couple of hallways. The last I had reached had a larger office space, only the windows next to it were completely blocked off by tossed file cabinets and desks. Someone sure tried to keep something out.

Across the windows was another office with the windows destroyed and the door barely holding up. On the wall next to it was a label that said "Alice Wade." Did Fettel's forces or ATC find her? Slowly, I opened the door to see this room completely trashed. The curtains were hanging off to the side, paperwork on the floor and the chair leaning against the far wall. There was a small portrait on the table that showed who I think is Alice and her father.

She had short blond hair and deep blue eyes. She looked like she was in her mid-20's, youthful and happy in her appearance. She was standing side by side with an older male who I guessed was Harlan Wade. He had short gray hair, small mustache, with thick black glasses on in front of his brown eyes. Looking at him, I had this strange feeling in my chest...

From what I can tell, it didn't look like a struggle took place. Everything that was destroyed seemed to have been caused because of frustration, and I was sure Alice isn't the type of employee to throw a temper tantrum. One thing I noticed was that on the wall was a phone and an answering machine hung up. There two voicemails leftover for Alice which I checked out real quick. The first said it was from her father, Harlan.

"Alice, it's your father! You've got to get out of there! You're in danger! Get to my office and find my laptop. There's a text file called 'Proteus." Hurry!"

Right now, I wasn't sure if Alice might've been around to hear this message or wasn't here when he made that call. Guess that means I have to find her somewhere else in this place. The name "Proteus" I remembered a little bit about. Proteus was ancient Greek sea god or something I don't know, I don't remember everything about it. It was also funny to think that the names "Icarus" and "Perseus" were mentioned earlier today and they too were Greek mythology figures. Anyway, I waited for the next voicemail to play from Aldus Bishop.

"Hey, it's Aldus. I read through those news clippings and I definitely think you're onto something. I'm going to see if I can track down some other people who lived or worked in the area during that time. Even a couple of interviews would help. I'll keep you posted."

Hmm, this must've been about that wastewater analysis that the others were investigating. God knows how long this message might've been before Bishop was kidnapped earlier and later killed by ATC. My thoughts were soon distracted by hearing a phone ring behind me. Just hearing that made me jump for how loud it was. It was coming from that office that is blocked off, but I see it was very close to the broken windows. Eventually, it stopped ringing and I saw that there was another voicemail left over from earlier. It, too, was from that Harlan guy.

"Hi, it's Harlan Wade. I've been trying to get a hold of Genevieve all week, but the bitch never picks up her fucking phone. Look, if you see her, tell her we're in deeper shit than I thought. Her brilliant idea of reopening the Vault set something in motion that I can't explain and don't know how to stop. I sure hope she's happy."

Like that first message I heard from him several hours ago, he didn't sound too happy in this message either. I remember hearing about this "vault" Wade mentioned by that Replica squad from earlier. They said something about looking for Mapes to see if he knows the entrance for that thing or whatever. Could the "vault" and Origin be connected to what's going on? From my standpoint, it sure seemed to sound like it. Definitely if ATC is involved.

After making sure my search was done in this place, I headed all the way back to where I came from to where the elevators were. Maybe I can find a floor to where Alice might be and try to find her. Before I could reach the one I took to get up here, there was some kind of noise heard in the room above the machine. Suddenly, the elevator lowered itself a couple feet down to where I could see the ceiling of it.

Oh, shit, I already had a feeling I wasn't going to like this. No where else to go, I just now that I'm gonna have to do this the hard way... which is by making my way up through this shaft here. But in order to do so, I have to climb on top of this thing. Looking up the shaft, I couldn't see anyone sabotaging the device. If it's some kind of faulty wire, I'll be pissed. Carefully, I climbed up to the ceiling of this elevator. Next to me was a small maintenance area with a long, yellow ladder I could take. Just as I hopped on over there, the entire elevator system collapsed as the machine plummeted down to the bottom. From where I could see and hear, it was quite a big crash. Well, now I know I'm not taking that one.

After ascending up the long ladder, I reached another small section of generators for this place. Now if only I could use these to turn on the lights in here, for it was really dark in here. There was a small ledge behind where the elevators were I could travel across to where another ladder was on the other side of this place. Slowly, I walked on top of it and made my way towards the other side. A loud noise was heard above me. Before I could look, a giant shape fell from the ceiling next to me and crashed all the way down to the lower floors. Goddammit, it was the other elevator!

I probably would've fallen off if I didn't hang on tight to some cables on the wall. Waiting for my heartbeats to slow down due everything falling down on me, I looked up to see if anyone was above me. If there was, I'm going to kick their asses so hard for nearly trying to kill me. I couldn't see anyone. Whatever or whomever is doing this, they better fucking stop. Goddamn, this is pissing me off.

Eventually, I made it up next to the other ladder and started to climb it too. It was definitely much longer than the last one I took. Reaching the top, there was a red door behind me to where I came from. Sucky news was that it was locked from the other side. Just great. Looking over to the other side ahead of me from this shaft was another small area to where I could see another red door. Hopefully that one isn't locked, although I'm a little skeptical now to go around the ledge. You know, in case of any more falling shit from this place. Working up the nerve, I got on over to the side of this place and shimmied my way on over there. I had noticed that some elevator doors were slightly open a little... and from where I could see in the other room was that little girl.

She stared at me blankly with those almost dead eyes that she has given me before. But it was only for a little bit when the doors closed in front of her. I couldn't believe I was saying this, but could she be responsible for the elevators malfunctioning. After seeing her burn people alive and reduced them to nothing but bones and blood, it wasn't that hard to be a bit... "imaginative" to what she could do. I'm really hoping that it's just pure luck that is keeping me alive from her. I really do...

Reaching the other side of this shaft, I was happy to know that this door wasn't locked like the last one. Opening it, I was in some kind of supply closet for this place. Another door in here led me out into a lounge area for Armacham's employees. This place was deserted, that's for sure. Going through several halls to where I passed a desk counter with some computer equipment, Betters quickly got a hold of me over the radio system.

"Man, I hope this chick's alive... and nobody's been snacking on her." he said quietly.

Him and me both. Not sure, but something about her I felt kind of... protective for. I don't know, it's a bit hard to explain. I guess maybe what I want to say is that if I can at least protect one person from all this madness and death around here, then at least it should be an innocent woman. Getting my mind back to my job, I went around one of the corners here back into where I had passed the counter. There was a phone over here with a message left over. Pressing play, it said it was from an outside number. The person who left it behind sounded like an older woman.

"Hey, it's Sue. It's about 2:30. Guess you're in a meeting, as usual. Anyway, just wanted to make sure you got my email about tomorrow night. Sorry for the short notice, but we won't have to stay late. Call me back when you get in. Bye!"

Nothing special about that one. Heading back into the hall I came from, all I did was pass through about another office room and a small cubicle area in this place. After a little while of walking through, I began to hear movement in the next room. Putting my back against the wall, I looked over to the left to see an entire squad of Replica's patrolled into a large, open area, with some stairs nearby that led to a higher area. They were conversing with each other as about two of them were walking around waiting for something, one of them saying over his radio "Check in."

"Nothing to report."

"Roger. Keep your eyes open." he finished as one of them put away their radios.

I only had about 1 mag for the submachine gun here. There was 4 soldiers for me to take care of before I can get past them. If I play my cards right, then maybe I can take care of them without having to reloading. Aiming my weapon at the two soldiers above, I fired several rounds at both of them. Their dead bodies fell to the ground, with the other half of the squad now figuring out where I was. They yelled out "Target sighted!" as they took cover behind the counter. One of them came up and started firing at me with his G2A2 rifle.

I crouched down to the floor behind some cover and waited for him to stop firing. Quickly, I came back up and shot a single bullet through his neck. Despite his injuries, he did his best to bring his gun up at me. These guys are determined, I'll give them that. Firing another set of bullets to his face, he screamed out in agony as he fell backwards to the floor. The other soldier yelled "Die, motherfucker!" as he was preparing to throw one of his grenades at me. Activating my reflexes, I ran over to where he was as he had just tossed it over to where I last was. Just as the explosion went off behind me, he realized too late that I was right next to him. Right away I fired the remainder of my bullets into his chest and head as he died soon after.

Seeing as how all of them were dead and had some ammo for the G2A2, I put away the SMG and picked that up instead. After restocking myself with what I needed, I went up the set of stairs to the upper level. As I was going through the balcony, gunfire was coming from the other side of here. Looking over I saw two more soldiers firing at me, each of them carrying a rifle and a shotgun. I ran all the way up to a small lounge area up ahead to where I avoided their assault. Coming back out from the other end, I blasted them both to hell with my assault rifle. After killing them, I went around this balcony some more and reached some more offices.

There was about 4 more Replicas coming my way, but they hadn't seen me yet. Hiding in the darkest parts of this place, I waited for them to come closer to where I could take them out one by one. The last one in line was closest to me. I snuck up behind him and snapped his neck, quietly dragging his body to the ground so it didn't attract attention. The other three hadn't noticed yet. Sneaking up on the 2nd one in line, I also broke his neck and did the same thing with his body. One of them must've heard me, for he said out loud to his partner "What was that?".

They both turned around and saw me standing behind them. Quickly, I opened fire at both of them with my rifle before they could bring up their weapons. Luckily, they both went down easy from just a few bullets to their faces. After reloading, I went into one of the offices that I could use to move on ahead. I had seen another phone available to where a message was left over. Making sure that there wasn't any more Replicas around, I pressed play on the machine to hear that the message was from Alice.

"Hi, this is Alice Wade. I just wanted to give you a quick status report. We're still collating data, but it's pretty clear that whatever happened to Auburn wasn't because of the usual socioeconomic factors. The downturn was actually a symptom of people avoiding or leaving the area for other reasons, which we'll summarize in our presentation. One more thing... From what we can tell, it all started about 20 years ago. I'll let you know when we've got a clearer picture. Thanks!"

Just what was it over there that caused the people to leave? I wasn't sure what it is that you can put in water or the air that can sicken people unless it was some kind of toxin. But even if there was one, wouldn't be like big news or something? If that is the case, then they wouldn't need a task force to investigate the strange anomalies over at Auburn. I guess I'll just have to keep my ears open for any possible theories about that.

Making my way through some more rooms, I made it to a pathway where it would lead me into another room with some elevators. Before I could enter it, an alarm went off ahead. A security gate came down from the ceiling and blocked off the entrance to the area ahead. Guess I'll have to find a way to disable the security. There were two Replicas coming out from the hallway to the right, possibly looking for me. Before they could spot me, I took care of them with several bullets to their chests. They must've been the only ones around here, so I guess that I'm in the clear for now.

Going around some corners, I stopped when I reached a dead end with another security gate. Damn, there was no where else to go. There were a few offices that I had just passed with some glass windows. Breaking one of them, I hopped on over to one of them and continued my way around here. A laptop was on a table next to the wall still up to where some documents about Armacham were available. This stuff looked important enough for Betters to go over. After sending the documents to him, he contacted me after a few seconds.

"Listen to this. Marshall Disler, Bill Moody, and Aldus Bishop were all working on some kind of task force together. The other members are Iain Hives, Alice Wade, Norton Mapes, and Charles Habegger. And Harlan Wade is the one pulling the strings. I guess that means Fettel's working his way up the food chain."

That was very interesting. All of those names I've heard about and saw in person since we started getting deeper into this mess. From what I know, Charles, Bill, and possibly Iain Hives were killed by Fettel. Disler said he was heading towards the Perseus Compound, but that was the last I heard about him. Bishop was killed by ATC security, while Alice might still be alive and Mapes trying to sabotage our operation. That just left Harlan himself who I believed was still alive, only I have no idea where he could be. I should try and hurry to find his daughter before Fettel and his forces get to her.

Moving past to where I found the computer, I stopped in front of a office to where the light inside wasn't working. Some stuff fell off from the shelf nearby as a phone was ringing inside. There was something coming out of small cubicle... That was when I looked at the floor and saw something move like a spider. It was rushing towards me really quick... It was that girl in the red dress! On impulse, I fired at her quickly not realizing what I was doing. Everything flashed white in front of my eyes...

She was no longer there. The phone had stopped ringing. What on earth happened? Maybe I'm just hallucinating again, like I did earlier today. Getting my mind out of the gutter, I kept on going through some more of this place. One dead end led to another closed off gate, so I went the other direction until I heard something. There was more Replica chatter on the radio somewhere. Taking cover, I heard one of them say "We've got enemy movement in this sector."

"Understand, Command. We could use some reinforcements."

"I'll send you what I can."

"Roger." They finished as the line went dark.

I hated hearing that word. Reinforcements... I wouldn't mind having some that didn't die mysteriously or I got separated from. I guess I can vent out my frustrations out on these guys, if there isn't too many of them. Looking around the corner, I saw about three of them slowly approaching the area from some more gray offices. Was it me, or is most of this place really starting to look the same? There was a fire extinguisher hooked up on the wall next to them. Drawing my assault rifle, I opened fire at the extinguisher as it blew up next to them. They were all staggered as they tried to get the chemicals out of their helmets so that they could see. I shot all three of them while they were distracted before they even knew what happened next.

Continuing on, next to one of the working areas was a small room next to it that looked like a control room. There was a monitor that showed a couple images of the locked security. There was a switch in front of me that I pushed that deactivated the security gates. With that out of the way, I exited out and checked the nest area to the left of me. There were several different weapons stacked up on the wall, enough for me to stockpile on. Grabbing all the spare ammo for the rifle, I also took the combat shotgun next to it, since I'm sure with all these close encounters that it would be useful. Also, there was another monitor a few feet from here that should the interior of the room I tried to enter before.

Inside was a finely established waiting room, for there were some fancy plants along the walls. It was a pretty big area. There was also a small balcony that looked like it led somewhere else in this place. There were multiple Replicas now entering this place as they took their positions in several hiding spots. If I go there now, I might have quite some trouble taking care of them. That was when I noticed that I wasn't just looking at them from just some camera. It was another one of those defense turrets from before that I encountered. And just like that last one I used, I plan on using this to take out as many of them as possible.

Activating the machine, I aimed it to where most of the Replicas were standing at. They had just noticed the turret aim at them as they tried to open fire at it. Pressing the trigger, I rained fire down at them. The bullets completely wrecking their shit as they tried desperately to get away. More gunfire was hitting the defense mechanism as I looked over to see 3 of the soldiers firing at me. I easily killed them all, but noticed this turret also took some damage. More and more kept coming, trying their hardest to destroy the machine that kept taking their squad mates out. I kept on firing and firing until no more came. I must've taken out almost 20 of them. Good thing it wasn't in person that I had to do all that.

Exiting the defense system, I turned back and went all the way over to where that dead end I found was. The gates were raised up to where I can now take a shortcut back to where I had to go. I eventually returned to where the first gate was and then entered the main lobby. Bodies of Replicas were all over this place, making it obvious that my little assault completely tore them to pieces. The stairs nearby only led back up to where I had seen that balcony where the other soldiers were coming from. Heading back downstairs, I saw there was another path open to the far end of this place I walk to.

I stopped to when I reached another section of offices and halls. There was another Replica squad up ahead with a Heavy Armor unit next to them. Shit, I can tell where this is going. I only had one spare grenade available, but the soldiers were too far separated from the Heavy that the blast wouldn't take them all out. My main concern is taking it out over the others, for that thing's weapons was more accurate than the soldiers weapons. Now or never, I threw the round object all the way to the Heavy Armor as it made contact with its back. The explosion went off, damaging it severely while taking out one of the other soldiers next to it. One of them shouted "It was over there!" as him and the others were making their way to my position.

Taking out my shotgun, I came out of where I was by the wall and fired several shells at the soldiers. Two of them were easy to take out, with one of them taking cover inside one of the smaller offices. I would've tried to go after him, until I saw that the Heavy Armor turning around. It was bringing the Penetrator up as it was aiming towards my chest. I ran into the next open office area before any of those nails would hit me. I had about 9 more shells in this shotgun, with also my assault rifle on my back I could still use. Taking a deep breath, I went out of the room from the other exit and was now behind where the Heavy Armor was coming. I fired all the shells I could onto its back until it tried to counter my efforts with its weapon.

I headed back inside the previous room and reloaded the shotgun with some new shells. As I was doing that, I noticed that the last Replica jump into the room I was in through the window. If I didn't activate my reflexes when I did, he might've been able to get the drop on me. Before he could act I hit him with the back of my weapon several times to where he fell to the ground. When he was down, I got a hold of his helmet with my bare hand and smashed his face to the floor. He definitely wasn't getting back up.

Now back to the main problem. Which was finishing off that Heavy unit. It was slowly making its way inside the room from where I came out to fire at it. Just as the beast came inside, I blasted him some more with about half the shells inside my shotgun to when it reeled back in pain. It screamed out as a radio signal went off inside its suit. I guess that means this thing is dead now. With not that many shells left available, I replaced the Vokkler-12 with the HV Penetrator left over by the armored Replica.

I went through more of this of the building until I reached another open area up ahead. There was a lone elevator available to the side, only it wasn't working at the moment. Right now there were four Replicas now entering this place, one on a higher ledge above where the elevator was, and the other three coming to the center from a small room to the far left. Some of these were the higher-ranking soldiers, for they had on the helmets with the green light. Taking out the Penetrator - for it was more accurate to finish them off - I fired at both of them with just 4 shots. One for each of their heads. They died quickly as their bodies were flown to the red walls behind each of them, attaching their lifeless bodies in place.

Only way for me to go was where those soldiers on this floor came from. Heading past his dead body, the next corner led me a set of stairs that branched off into some more to the left and right. 2 more Replicas were crouched down behind some glass. They had set up black leather chairs and tables behind the glass to defend themselves. They both stood up from their positions and tried to shoot me with their SMG's. I went back to the walls before the stairs to where I could avoid all that gunfire. Waiting for them to stop firing, I quickly went back out and fired another set of nails from the Penetrators straight through their helmets. It all happened so fast that they didn't have the chance to get back down.

Ascending up the stairs, I stopped to here more footsteps coming this way. To the right was 2 more soldiers coming from where the path I think I would have to take. Just as they had seen me, I charged up to the one in front and threw him over to the other one behind him. They both fell to the floor and tried to get themselves back on their feet. I never gave them the chance when I brought out my pistol really quick and shot them both in the head. Putting it back, I switched places the G2A2 and Penetrator to where now I was holding the assault rifle in both my hands.

Making my way to the upper level to where the soldiers came from, I went through the area to where some tables and chairs were scattered all over and flipped upside-down. The civilians must've been in a rush in trying to get out of here. Now that I think about it, it has been a while since I've seen any bodies of any of the other employees. I hope that a least some people were able to get out. Compared to the other dead people I found when I came here to ATC, it would be nice to know some were still alive.

The balconies here went all the way around to the other section of this place. When I got over there, I saw about 3 Replicas coming into the room up ahead behind the counter ahead of me. Just as they saw me, I fired several rounds from my rifle at all of them. After they were all killed, I walked around the corner nearby and continued on past to where those dead troopers were. There was a table nearby with 3 grenades that I took, for I sure wasn't going to complain about placement of deadly explosives. Moving past their lifeless bodies, i turned around another corner to where 2 more Replicas had knocked over a few file cabinets for cover. They realized too late that I was watching when I shot them both down while they were still exposed.

After I went over to where the soldiers were, I was now in a wider hall than the ones I passed before. To the left was a counter with some computers destroyed on top. There was a meeting room behind some glass windows to where I can see the door leading inside it. Around the corner behind to where the hall turned past the door was a lone Replica and a Heavy Armor entering this place. Not another one... Maybe it was a good idea to take that Penetrator.

Bringing that metallic weapon out, I fired it at the single soldier that was in front of the Heavy. It only took a few shots to the chest to kill him. The remaining ammo inside the Penetrator was then used to attack the armored Replica. Even with about 5-6 nails in its body, it tried its best to hit me with its own Penetrator. I took cover behind the counter to the left of me and brought back out my assault rifle. Using blind fire, I only brought the weapon up just enough for me to fire as much rounds as possible to where I think the Heavy was. It gave out that nightmarish scream as it slowly died from its injuries after a few seconds.

I checked out the area to where they came from to salvage some ammo from the Heavy Armor. After reloading the Penetrator, I went ahead to where there was a red hallway to the right. At the far end of the hall was two more Replica soldiers and another Heavy Armor. One of them spotted me and yelled "He's here!" as him and the others brought up their weapons. Aiming the Penetrator, I shot the weaker soldiers with several nails to their chests.

After they were taken care of, all that was left the Heavy. For a second, I thought this would be simple like that last one. My hopes were quickly shattered when a purple beam was fired near where I was. Looking carefully, I saw that this Heavy Armor didn't have the same HV Penetrator as the others. It was that same particle weapon I used that can completely disintegrate someone with a single shot. Fuck my life, man...

I had to be real careful here. All it would take is one shot from that weapon to destroy me. I tossed a grenade all the way on over to the armored Replica, the explosion going off in front of its feet. It wasn't enough to kill it, but it did cause it to drop on its knees. That left an opportunity for me fire the Penetrator at it. I was only able to fire the last 10 shots of this thing towards the Heavy when it stood back up. It fired a couple more shots of its particle weapon with only me dodging to the wall beside me saving my life. It kept firing several times, making it difficult for me to get back out.

I only had one more grenade left to try to take this thing out once and for all. Waiting for this thing to stop firing, I threw it all the way over to where it was with another explosion going off right by it. Thankfully, this thing died soon after, yelling out that radio-like scream as the others. I slowly went towards to where the dead soldiers were and decided to take that particle beam. Unfortunately, the Heavy using it ran out of shots on the weapon. I used that last grenade for nothing if I could've just simply finished it off with a few bullets.

There were a set of double doors that led into a single office room. That was when I saw Alice Wade in the corner of this room. She was on her knees with her hands behind her head. She was visibly shaking as she saw me enter the room. She had some blood on her white shirt while wearing black pants. Her hair was tied up into a ball with some of those things - whatever they are - holding it in place. She wasn't wearing any shoes, which she might've had to ditch for some reason. That must've meant that the Replicas stationed here were keeping her hostage, possibly for Fettel to come here to "interrogate" her. Alice stared at me for a few seconds in fear. She was looking at the uniform I was wearing and softly spoke "You're not one of them..."

Her voice was soft and warm. It was gentle, even if she was still terrified with what is happening. I'm pretty sure that the explosions and gunfire right outside the door didn't encourage anything. If she is aware of what ATC is up to, she might've been expecting their security to come after her. As she was slowly standing up, she looked at me and said "I'd pretty much given up on being rescued." And for a moment, I'd almost given up on thinking she was still alive. Thank goodness I got to her in time. Betters contacted me over the radio.

"Thank God she's okay. Give her a comlink." he told me.

I took out the last spare comlink available on me and handed it over to her. I guess I got Alice to trust me pretty quick, for she grabbed the device out of my hand when I lent it to her. She put the device on her left ear and quietly said "Hello?". As she was being logged onto our radio frequency, I noticed that this office belonged to her father, Harlan Wade. I guess maybe she did get his message earlier. Betters then started to talk to her over the channel we were all using.

"Ms. Wade, we're going to get you out of there, but you're going to have to move quickly." he told her.

"I need to get to my dad." Alice told him. Amazing that even with all the chaos going on and with me and Betters trying to get her to trust us... that the first thing she mentions is her father. She must really like the guy...

"Where is he?" Betters asked her.

"Some kind of classified facility. I've never heard of it. There isn't even a street address. Just UTM coordinates. The entrances are all hidden, but I have pass codes." Alice told us. Betters then told me what I had to do next.

"Okay, buddy, access Wade's laptop and upload the data on that facility."

Harlan's computer was lying on a table next to the windows leading outside. There were some information on here that Alice had already put it of where her dad might be. All that was left for me to do was just to send all that to Betters. The upload process was really slow for some reason, so me and Alice were waiting around for it to finish. On Wade's desk, there was a phone and its answering machine with some voicemails left over. I went over there and pressed play on the machine. Me and Alice were looking at each other when we heard that one of the two messages was from Chuck Habegger.

"Harlan, it's Habegger. Look, I know how you feel, but I don't see any alternative. We need to purge the Vault. Somebody's gotta go in there and deal with it or this whole situation is going to boil over. If you won't do it for the rest of us, do it for Alice."

Alice looked at me with concern. I was pretty sure that she didn't know what this "vault" was or what happened there. Could there be something important in there that Harlan kept that ATC wants? I couldn't possibly imagine what could be there. The next message was from someone I never heard of. It was by a man named "Phil Vecchio", who seemed to be in his 40's. It was hard to tell how old this guy could be. The way he was talking about Harlan suggested he might've been one of his close friends.

"Harlan, you were right. The crazy bitch is determined to blow the site to kingdom come. God knows who she thinks is gonna pick up the pieces when her plan backfires." He sighed a little, then said "I've had enough of this shit... I plan to be sipping girly drinks on a beach in Tahiti by the time the media gets wind of all this. Talk to you later, buddy.

I'm guessing that the "crazy bitch" Phil is talking about is Genevieve Aristide. It sounds like there are two sides of Armacham that are in conflict about this situation. On one end is Genevieve who is trying to cover up the problem by getting rid of evidence, and the other is Harlan who wants to expose everything. The higher-ups must be shitting bricks over their own company fighting with each other. I noticed that on Harlan's laptop that all the information was successfully sent to HQ. Betters confirmed it being sent by telling me "All right, the data's been uploaded." Next thing he did was speak to both me and Alice over the comlink.

"First things first. Get to the roof. A helo is on the way." I really hope this doesn't end like the last one... Alice then talked to him on the channel.

"You mean a helicopter? Can't we drive instead? My car is downstairs in the parking garage." she said.

"What, are you afraid of flying" Betters mockingly asked her.

"Kind of..." she told him.

"Trust me, you're safer in the air" he assured her.

"Yeah, right..." she said disappointed.

I looked back into the hallway I came from to where I fought the Replicas. It didn't look like there were anymore of them coming. Seeing as how it was safe to leave, I motioned for Alice to come with me. She slowly walked over to me. She was shocked to see the blood and dead bodies of the clone soldiers lying on the ground. She gave me a unique look, the kind that pretty much said "You did all this!". I already knew she didn't have to say it, only think it. She looked back out of the hall to see if anyone else was there before she told me:

"Hurry! Let's go get my dad!" Alice said excitedly. Betters got back with her soon after.

"You're not going anywhere but a safe house till this is over."

"What!" she shouted to him.

"Don't worry, your father will be joining you as soon as we pick him up." he told her.

"No way! I'm not going anywhere until I know he's okay!" Alice yelled at him. I can understand her concern, I really do. But Betters was right, it's too dangerous for her to come with me to find Harlan.

"Forget it, I'm not taking any more chances!" he finished as he signed off. Alice had a look of defeat on her face. I could tell she wanted to tell me to change our minds to find her father. I turned my head from her, giving her the cold shoulder. She'll be thankful later when we get Wade.

We were slowly making our way past all the rooms I came through from. Only way I can think of getting to the roof from here was that disabled elevator I passed before. I'm no special technician, but I can do my best to try and get it to work. As we were moving from one room to next, Alice looked around at all the destruction from the gunfire and shrapnel lying around. She muttered under her breath "What a mess..." as we continued on. I'm pretty sure she was happy that she wasn't around when I did all this. In all honesty, I wouldn't want her to see all that happened here.

Me and her stopped for a moment when we heard "Search this area!". It sounded like some more of the Replicas. I wasn't sure where it came from until I looked over at the balcony above where the elevator was. There were three of them exiting the elevator I planned to take. At least I don't have to worry about getting it to work. I looked back at Alice and put my index finger over my lips, letting her know that I need her to be quiet. She understood immediately and crouched down on the floor, covering her ears. She knew what was going to happen next.

Before the Replicas could get any farther, I opened fire with my assault rifle towards them. I only got one of them when the other two took cover by the couch next to them. One of them shouted "Hostile!" as they returned fire back at me. We both exchanged gunfire, with my superior speed and aim getting the best of both of them. They screamed in pain as they bled out from the bullets entering their chests. I looked back at Alice and grabbed her shoulder. She looked up at me to see from my face that it was over.

When we both got down to where the elevator was, I pilfered some ammo and grenades from the dead clones. After doing so, me and Alice entered the elevator which was just a few feet from where the soldiers were. She went to the control switch for the elevator and said to me "You don't mess around, do you?". At least she was nice enough to say that out loud instead of keeping it to herself. Goes to show that she isn't afraid to speak her mind.

She pressed the button for the roof that is available on this elevator. The doors closed as we were now starting to go up. There was some cheery music playing in here that I think started to help me loosen up. All these dark corridors and fighting really can stress a guy out. A massage therapy sounds nice right about now... Alice then said something to me as she got my attention.

"Why are all the floors lighting up?" I looked over to where to what she was talking about. She was right, several lights were shown next to the numbers for some of the floors. What does this mean...?

"Uh oh... Somebody's pressing the call buttons!" Alice told me. Was someone setting up an ambush?

As the elevator was beginning to stop on one of floors that was on the switch, I took cover on the other side of this thing as Alice put her back to the side. She yelled out "Get ready!" as the doors began to open. Footsteps of heavy boots were walking slowly towards us. I peeked out to see two of the Replicas coming here. Just as they saw my head, they brought up their weapons as quickly as they could. I opened fire at both of them as Alice was yelling at the switch of the elevator, saying "Close!".

Just as I fired enough bullets to kill both of the soldiers, the doors then shut soon after. After a few seconds, we were now beginning to stop on one of the other floors. Alice disappointingly said "Here we go again." as the doors began to open. Three more Replicas were scattered about in the room ahead of me. Two of them were crouching down next to some counters while the third one was behind some glass in a back room. They began to open fire at me when I returned the favor back at them. I only managed to get the two closest while the last one dodged my bullets. Eventually, I got him with just a couple shots to the head as his body fell to the floor.

The doors closed again as we were going back up. I reloaded the G2A2 as Alice was trying to regain her composure. As we began to stop on another floor, Alice said "This sucks" with a frustrated tone in her voice. No shit, girl. The doors opened once again with another 3 Replicas waiting to apprehend us. I opened fire at all of them, this time lucky enough to kill all of them in just a few bursts of fire. The doors closed again as Alice was now beginning to breath real fast. She quickly loosened up after we were soon reaching the roof. A flash of white covered my eyes.

The doors had opened again, only the power was now out. This place was completely dark. I turned on my flashlight on my vest to see what was going on. Alice asked me "What's going on? What happened to the power?". I wasn't sure what to tell her. Maybe the Replicas were changing their strategies on trying to get both of us. I went outside to investigate quickly, with Alice telling me "I'll wait here." She said that in an almost sad excuse for a joke, for she tried to find some humor into saying that.

There was a single room ahead of us through a glass window to where it looked like it was in charge of the power of the elevators. A back door was shown behind it to which I just had to find to get in there. The hall to the right of me was possible to use to get around. I stopped at an intersection to where Armacham's logo was on the wall. To the right was a closed off security gate while the left path led to a door. I opened it and walked up to the control mechanism. After pressing "activate" on it, the power was beginning to come back online. As Alice was looking at me through the glass window, I saw something coming towards her from inside the elevator...

It was that little girl in red.

I tried to yell out for Alice to get out when the doors closed in front of her. The power to this place then came back online as I heard the elevator start to ascend to the roof. Was this a trap by that 8-year old? To separate us? I tried my best to get back in contact with Alice, only there was some kind of interference preventing me. All I can do now is try and see if I can make it up to the roof and meet her there... that is, if she's still alive.

Exiting out of the control room, I went over to the elevator only to see that I couldn't bring it back down here. Guess that mean I'll have to find another way up to the roof. I looked back to see that the security gate blocking the corridor earlier was now open. After entering the room, the gates then closed behind me. No turning back now. There was a door in the corner that after opening it, I saw some stairs that went up. Going up each step, there was another door in here that I opened that led me into a long hallway. To the far left was a unit of Replicas scouting a large lobby.

I got closer by hiding behind a cart carrying some stuff. Two of them were on the ground walking up to the malfunctioning elevators while a third one was on the upper balcony up some more stairs. I tossed one grenade far off to the squad of two as it made contact with one of them. An explosion took care of them both as the last one yelled "Fuck!" when I shot him down with my rifle. After I went up the stairs to the upper balcony, I noticed one more of those clone troopers waiting by another door at the far end. Just as he spotted me, I shot him a few times to the face from here. I guess I should say I was lucky enough that this distance was enough for me to make a clean shot.

Making my way towards the door the soldier was, I opened it to find myself facing some more stairs. I went up to open another brown door that led into a supply closet. The red door to the left was locked on the other side, preventing me from exiting this place. Cursing my shitty luck again, I noticed there were some boxes piled up next to a ventilation cover. I climbed on them to reach the cover and kicked it open. I crawled inside the vents to where I made a big drop down to a lowered vent.

I hope I can catch up to Alice. God, I just hope that she is alive...

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><p>T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-That's all, folks! Reviews would be sweeeeeeettt<p> 


	15. Flight

Do you know... the Muffin Man? 'Cause I sure do. Not sure what that has to do with F.E.A.R., but at least it's not part of some stupid Resident Evil puzzle. Anyway, I know that I updated this much sooner than expected, but hey, it was already done for a while. Thought I'd get this out of the way. This chapter and all the ones before this I don't own the story, which is all Monolith.

O'Doyle rules! Have fun!

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><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 07 - REDIRECTION  
><strong>

**FLIGHT  
><strong>

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><p><em><strong>The "Point Man"<strong>_  
>At the far end of this ventilation was a holder in place. I kicked it down and crawled out into what I was sure to be the other side of that locked red door. I was now on the roof to where the helicopter was supposed to arrive to pick up me and Alice. And speaking of Alice, she was just outside. We could see each other from a stained window in between us. She said to me "There you are! How did we get separated?". I highly doubt that telling her an 8-year old girl who kills people by just looking at them was an acceptable answer. Alice then started to tell me what had happened.<p>

"I remember the power going out in the elevator. Then the next thing I knew I was arriving on the top floor and you were gone." That's it? She didn't see that little girl? Never minding that, I heard Betters talk to us over the comlink.

"You should have a visual on that evac chopper."

Alice turned around to see that one of F.E.A.R.'s Black Hawks was coming towards Armacham. And speaking of getting out of here, I have to get out of this room. The set of double doors nearby that led outside were locked or jammed, for I couldn't get them to open. I looked back out to see the helicopter beginning to descend to the LZ. Soon we were going to leave this place...

Next thing I know, the sound of a rocket was heard. I saw two objects approaching the chopper as I immediately guessed what was going to happen next. The missiles had hit the center and back end of the heli as it exploded into a ball of flame. Who the fuck blasted our Black Hawk! This was some serious bullshit. Alice screamed out "Oh my God!" as she was shocked to see what happened. Betters, too, cursed out "Shit!" as our hopes of getting out of here were completely destroyed. Alice looked back and me and spoke to Betters over the radio.

"This is crazy! I'm not waiting here! My dad's in danger!" Alice shouted.

"Your dad will be fine. You're the one I'm worried about. You just need to calm down." Betters told her.

The sound of another helicopter was approaching the LZ. At first, I was hoping that it was a spare evacuation chopper. Me and Alice looked at it to see it wasn't one of ours... it belonged to the Replica Army. It was hovering over the LZ spot as rappel lines started to come down. Alice began to panic as she said "Sorry!" and went towards the red door next to her. She closed the door right behind her, and my gut told me that she locked it too. Betters tried to call out to her, saying "Ms. Wade!". She didn't respond, with Betters telling me "Damn it! What the hell is she thinking!". Guess I can't really blame her for wanting to get out of this place...

"She's headed for the garage. You've got to cut her off before she gets herself killed." Betters explained to me as Replica soldiers were now coming down from the rappel cables up ahead. Not that I wanted to admit it to Betters, but this job started to really suck right now.

The chopper the Replicas came out was now beginning to leave. Before it did though, one of its rockets was fired from the helicopter. It was heading towards this place! I took cover back inside the vents as an enormous explosion hit the small room. Waiting for the smoke to clear, I saw that the place I was previously at was totaled. The double doors I had trouble opening were now blown open, giving me access to the roof. Lucky me...

I went back out of the ventilation and peeked outside to see about 4 Replicas approaching my position. Maybe they're sent to check if I was dead, or to capture Alice again. I'm not giving these bastards the pleasure of either of that. I stood up from the ground and opened fire at 4 of them with my rifle, now that they were close enough for me to take my anger out on. None of them stood a chance as they screamed in pain to the bullets entering their chests and neck.

Heading outside, I checked to see if Alice indeed locked the door to which my suspicions were right. I was already starting to hate this job more than I thought I would. To find another way out of this place, I walked up ahead slowly through some generators and vents placed on the roof. I cautiously made my way around the roof, hoping that there weren't any Replica reinforcements left behind when they came here. There were some stairs at the far end of this place I went up to find myself in front of the landing pad. I was getting some major deja vu here, for this scenario here looks a lot like how I first came to this place. There were some brown double doors to the left of the LZ that showed some corridors I could enter. There was a machine to the left of it with an automated computer voice saying:

"Welcome to Armacham Technology Corporation. Visitors must be accompanied by authorized Armacham personnel." Fuck you guys.

After I opened the doors, I was walking towards an upper balcony above where some elevators were placed. Speaking of elevators, one of them was coming up to where I was. Down below, the mechanical doors slid open as a unit of two Replicas exited the elevator, with one of them saying "Move! We need that hostage!". Shit, that means they must be looking for Alice. Not on my watch. Before they could spot me, I opened fire at the two of them before they could fight back. They died quickly, but not without myself getting some more attention from another unit up here.

Two more soldiers came out from another corridor up ahead of where I was as they were firing at where I was. I took cover by a wall to the left where I waited for them to stop firing. As soon as they stopped, I was using the good old blind fire trick to shoot them all without exposing myself. From what I could hear, only one of them was hit by some bullets while the other was yelling "Man down!". Looking back out, I saw the other Replica running back to take some cover behind a support pillar. Before he could reach there, I fired the remaining bullets in my gun to his back as he fell down.

I reloaded my G2A2 and walked over to where the two soldiers were. They were definitely dead, so I went down the stairs leading to the lower floor. As soon as I got there, another elevator was coming up to where I was. The doors opened, revealing another squad of Replicas coming out. They saw the carnage of their fallen comrades next to them, as well as me standing over by the other elevator. Using my reflexes, I moved fast enough to shoot both of them down before their gunfire could hit me.

My gut told me that if I were to use these elevators now, they would take me to another section of the building that would be too far from where I could reach the parking garage. There was a dark yellow door across from one of the elevators that I opened to reach what appeared to be a back room of sorts. There was several machinery everywhere, most likely for the power to this place. Maneuvering through the corners and technology, Betters once again tried to get a hold of Alice.

"Ms. Wade, can you hear me?" After a few seconds, Alice responded back with a simple "Yes."

"What do you think you're doing?" Betters asked her.

"I have to know he's okay." Alice said. She's a persistent woman, I'll give her that.

"Look, I'm willing to let you ride along to pick up your father, but you're putting yourself in a lot of danger right now." Betters told her with that commanding type of tone he uses.

"Yeah, well, you said I'd be safe on a helicopter." Great, she's got a sense of humor.

"Those soldiers are looking for you. If they capture you again, they're going to interrogate you. And believe me, their methods are very unpleasant." Betters said to her. When he was saying that last part, I wondered if he meant Fettel as well.

"I'll take my chances." Alice finished as the line went off from us and her.

"Stubborn little bitch, isn't she?" Betters jokingly asked me. Yeah, she can be. Amazing that after everything going on right now, she still insists on going off by herself.

Moving through all these back rooms, I opened a brown door here that led to some stairs going down. After walking down to the lower floor, I found another door I opened to another corridor of the main building. Looking around, there was some small cubicles to the left I followed into another working area for employees. Looking up, I saw Alice on the upper level next to some windows. Just as she saw me, she could tell from my face that I wanted her to stay right there until I caught up to her. That was when both of us heard something from outside.

We looked out the glass windows here to a blue light moving around outside. It almost looked like some kind of search light or something. Whatever was doing it, it frightened Alice enough to run off from where she was. I began to wonder what it was that could be looking for us. Could it be Armacham? I walked through the office spaces carefully and reached another back room with a wider office room. There was an answering machine on the table inside with three new messages left over. As much as I would have to find Alice, it wouldn't hurt to see if any of these are important. Indeed, the first one was from Alice's father, Harlan. It seemed this message was for that Phil Vecchio I heard about earlier in Harlan's office when I found Alice.

"Hey, Phil, it's Harlan. I'm pretty sure Genevieve is considering some pretty drastic measures to cover her bony ass. I'll tell you straight up that I'll be fucked if her or any of her little toadies is going anywhere near the Vault. She already caused enough damage thinking she could just march in there and start over from scratch. If she comes to you for backup, remind her that we locked that place up for a reason."

Harlan sure sounds pissed. Whatever Genevieve and Armacham tried to do down there must be really bad, but not as much as what they've probably done before. The next message was from Genevieve.

"Phil, how are you? It's Genevieve. I haven't seen you at Maurice's lately. We should get together for happy hour once this mess blows over. Speaking of which, I have a favor to ask. I know you and Harlan go back a ways, so I was hoping you could try to reason with him. He refuses to forgive me for sending those poor people into the Vault, as though I'm happy about what happened. I made a mistake... but I don't see why everyone else should have to pay for that. Anything you can say to get him to see reason would be appreciated."

The tone of Aristide's voice made it sound like she acknowledged what happened, but still wants to be all coy about it, as if it's not a big deal. I could tell that she is really doing this to get people to follow her lead instead of anyone else's. The last message was from Genevieve again. She must be really persistent about all this.

"Hi, it's Genevieve. I just wanted to remind you that the Origin facility was a liability long before this situation erupted. I was simply trying to clean up an old mess. I was hoping we could renovate or even repurpose the site, but clearly the risks are unacceptable. I see no alternative but to destroy it completely. If you have a better suggestion, I'd love to hear it. In the meantime, I have a company to save."

I have a feeling that the special facility Harlan is at that Alice said he was in is the same one as that of Origin. And since I sent the information to HQ, our next orders are probably to go there and figure out what happened. A little out of our jurisdiction, but I'm sure they'll find some excuse to go there. And if Harlan is there, then Fettel will soon follow his trail. Whatever happens, our mission to this "Vault" is going to be soon.

Through some of these rooms was some construction going on. It looked like there was going to be another couple offices built for some employees in the near future. I'm pretty sure by the time this whole mess is over, they're gonna be more concerned about cleaning this place instead. In another open lounge area was an upper balcony above with some stairs I could probably find to go up. A small table in the middle here had a black laptop with some document pulled up that seemed important. After sending all of it to HQ, Betters then contacted me.

"I found some more information on Origin. The prototypes were created from a 'genetic reference.' I think that's just a euphemism for somebody's DNA. There's no indication of who the lucky son of a bitch was, but I'm guessing Harlan Wade, since he started the program."

As I was going through the area and reached the stairs, my mind was constantly going back and forth over everything I learned today. Hearing about projects like "Perseus" and places like this "vault" and "Origin". It just seems like with every phone call or document discovered only revealed little pieces of the puzzle, with more questions raised than answers. With what Betters said, I wondered if Fettel really was part of the project that made him, did his genetics come from Wade?

Going through the upper floor, there was a security gate near me that obviously blocked me off from going that way. There was another entrance I could take across from here that I took. I was in some kind of corridor with some Armacham monitors to the left, presenting information about the company's background. To the windows that had a view of outside, I noticed that same blue light that I had seen earlier. And whatever was causing it, it just burst through the windows.

I've never seen anything like it. It wasn't a person, but instead looked fully robotic. It was hovering in the air a few feet from the ground. It had a Y-shaped figure to it, using some types of engines to keep itself afloat on each end of the device. It had 2 red dots on its chest area, and underneath its chest was a blue light scouting the area. It was about as tall as 3 feet, and was coming towards me. I aimed my rifle at it and fired several bullets towards it for I knew this thing was not friendly. As I was firing at it, the blue light came to where I was... and the machine fired multiple pink lasers at me.

I dodged next to a support pillar, as I tried to regain my composure from being blasted by fucking lasers. Just who sent this thing, Armacham! This is some fucked up security systems, if you ask me. Looking back at where the machine was, it was hovering over to where I was standing. I noticed that the bullets that made contact with it caused it to malfunction a little. If I can just get a few more shots in, then it should be destroyed. Activating my reflexes, I snuck up behind the machine before it could get a lock-on to me. Firing some more bullets to its back, the machine then exploded into a cloud of blue as there were no pieces remaining. That takes care of that...

Another window broke to the side as I looked over... to see another one of those machines come inside. Goddammit... From where it was, it was close enough for me to use up all the bullets leftover of my G2A2. The machine didn't even have enough time to defend itself as it too exploded from taking enough shots to the chest. I reloaded my rifle and saw that just like the last one, it didn't leave any parts behind. I'm guessing that if it takes enough damage it causes a small self-destruct system to where nothing is left, so no one can take any parts leftover by its destruction. Pretty fancy stuff for security purposes.

Continuing on through the corridor, I passed a corner to where an HV Penetrator and some ammo for it were lying on a table. A bit convenient, but I sure wasn't going to complain. Picking that up and holstering the G2A2 on my back, I went across the next corner to end up where I was at a balcony above the lower floors I was at. A blue light illuminated one of the windows near the ceiling as one of those machines burst through. Using the HV's superior piercing ammunition, I only had to fire about like 6-8 nails until the machine was taken care of and destroyed. Moving through the balcony, I saw a small room through some thick glass up ahead with another of those flying drones come in through the window inside. It was heading towards the entrance of the room to intercept me, only I countered by shooting through the glass to hit the thing until it blew up.

Entering the next room, there was no other available path I could take to exit this place. Outside of the windows the drone came through was a roof that I could probably take if I can figure out how to get there. Looking out into the night near the edge here, it appeared that if I could walk on the ledge then I can reach on over to the roof. Treading carefully, I went on over to the other side of this ledge. There was a small drop next to some ventilation systems I could jump down to make down to the roof.

After dropping down, the sound of something breaking was heard above me. Two more of those flying machines were hovering above my position, probably looking for me. Not wanting to risk them finding me and blasted me to pieces, I opened fire from below to the underside of each of them at a time. They were both destroyed soon after, with me reloading the Penetrator. Down here was a red door that after opening it, was a yellow ladder I can climb up into the upper room.

Reaching the top, I opened the door here to where I was now in the higher section of the roof. To the left was some destroyed windows that led back inside. Entering back into the building, I was now where Alice was last time I saw her. I wondered how far she might've gotten from here, or if she is okay. Moving around this balcony, I opened some double doors that led into a conference room. Another one of those flying drones came into this place from another window as it spotted me from outside. It tried to hit me with those lasers equipped onto it, so I took cover next to the wide table.

I just needed a distraction long enough for me take this down. With an unusual idea, I grabbed the leg of one of the chairs getting ready for something drastic. After a few seconds, I came up from where I was hiding and tossed the chair over to the hovering device on the other side of the room. It hit the machine as it was slightly disorientated a bit. It left me enough time to fire several nails from the Penetrator to completely destroy this thing. Exiting the conference room, I was now into an open lobby with some stairs that went up to the next floor. Before I took, some glass was broken from the ceiling as a couple rappel cables came down.

There were 4 Replica soldiers coming down as they were beginning to land on the ground. Quickly, I used my reflexes to drop the HV and take out the assault rifle on my back. I fired at all the soldiers coming down before they could get the chance to shoot me as they were coming down. All of the bullets made contact with the soldiers as their dead bodies heavily fell to the ground here. The sound of something breaking caught my attention as I looked over to the left to see two more of those aerial machines entering this place. It looked like they came from one of the bigger glass windows as they were floating around looking for someone. Just what is with these things coming from the windows anyway? Haven't they ever heard of a door?

I pulled up the HV from the ground and fired at both of the machines as they tried to attack me with more of those multiple lasers. Quickly I ran circles around them while dodging their deadly beams. Eventually they were destroyed after I had fired about 8 nails into each of them. I was beginning to run low on ammo for the Penetrator, but I did make for it by taking some magazines for the assault rifle from the dead Replicas on the ground. After doing that, I went up the stairs all around to reach a brown door to the left. Before I opened it, I heard the radio in an office behind me set on the news channel.

"Government officials have confirmed that a U.S. special forces Black Hawk helicopter has been shot down." There was some noise going on in the news as they began to talk about it being a chopper. "The sound you hear in the background is apparently not a U.S. military helicopter, but rather one belonging to the mysterious assailants responsible for the attack on Armacham headquarters earlier in the evening. Only moments ago we saw what appeared to be tracer fire, followed by several loud explosions. Information on casualties has not yet been released."

I wonder if that chopper for the Replicas meant they were dropping off reinforcements here. That's just what I needed, more people to shoot me some more. Exiting this place through the door nearby, I entered a back room of sorts. The door at the other end led me into a stairwell to where it looked like I was on the 8th floor. Alice might've gone this way down to the garage below. As I was beginning to descend the stairwell, a door was slammed open below. There were some footsteps coming up here with a Replica shouting "Check the stairs!".

With these close quarters, it would be difficult to try and start the fight with us going back and forth and not get anywhere. Checking if I had any more explosives, I found I still had one spare grenade left over that I haven't used yet. Looking down, there were 3 Replicas walking up here from what appeared to be the 5th floor. Tossing the grenade down the steps the soldiers were going to, they realized too late that the round object was there as the blast engulfed all of them. That took care of that.

The doors for the 8th, 7th, and 6th floors were all locked, but the 5th floor the soldiers came from was available. With the stairs ending at the 5th level, I went through the door and was now in another corridor next to an office space to the left of it. There was a phone on a table inside the room with 2 messages left over. I pressed play on the answering machine to hear that the first message was from Harlan Wade. The way he was talking made it sound like this office belonged to Genevieve Aristide. That, and he was still pretty pissed.

"Genevieve, Harlan Wade here. I got your message. First off, please don't presume to know my feelings. It's insulting. And don't lecture me about burying the dead like some fuckwit shrink. The bottom line is that we wouldn't be in this situation if you didn't ignore my warnings. And now you want to dig the hole deeper. Sooner or later you're gonna dig right down to Hell."

Hearing all this bickering between Wade and Aristide was beginning to sound ridiculous. They almost began to sound like children arguing over breaking the rules. I really wonder what's down there in that facility that is causing them to antagonize each other. The next message was from that Phil Vecchio fellow I heard about back in Harlan's office.

"I got your message, Genevieve. I think what Harlan is trying to say is that we should be leery of kneejerk impulses. I understand that there are some time pressures to consider, but we really need to be thinking strategically. Reopening the Vault at this point strikes me as a dubious proposition considering all that's happened. It's probable that we'd just be adding fuel to the fire."

As I exited the office, I was thinking of what Phil said. He seemed to be the only person who is trying to be logical here. Although I had to consider that he still wants to cover up what happened after everything is said and done. Moving on, I went around another corner into a red hallway. I stopped when I heard some Replica activity in the next room saying "Squad, stay down." The next hall was very dark, making it hard to see except for the lone light at the far end.

Turning on my flashlight, I walked down the corridor expecting the unexpected. And the unexpected did happen... To the left of the dark corridor, the walls rotated almost like a stack of curtains. Inside there was an entire meeting room where the lights were active and working. Oh yeah, and there was also 6 Replicas scattered around with their weapons pointed towards me.

I ran all the way back to where I came to avoid getting shredded by a hailstorm of bullets. Taking cover by the other corner, I peeked my head to see about 4 of them coming out of the hidden room they came from to try and intercept me. I fired my rifle down the hall and got about two of the soldiers while the other two went back into that meeting room. One of them yelled "Grenade out!" as the explosive device was thrown over to my feet. Taking a huge risk, I quickly grabbed the round grenade and tossed it back over to where they are. The explosion went off as I heard cries of pain in the other area.

Looks like their ambush backfired as the blast took out 3 of the Replicas while the last one was limping out into the hall with a bloody leg. Despite his injuries, it looked like he still wanted to kill me. I went back out and just fired a couple bullets towards his helmet, ending his life. I walked on over to the turnable walls to see that the Replicas sure stacked out inside here. There were 2 grenades and some more ammo for the G2A2. Taking all of that, I exited this place and went around the next corridor by opening some double doors.

It was an open lobby with some elevators disabled on one end. Just as I entered, I heard one of the Replicas in the other room to the left yell "Kill the lights." Sure enough, the power went out into this place for a few seconds. When the emergency power came back into this place, I saw about 6 troopers enter this place from that room on the far left. Some of them were the higher ranked Replicas for they had some of the more advanced gear and body armor.

Looks like this didn't turn out quite what they were expecting, for they were surprised on how quickly the lights came back. Using this to my advantage, I tossed a grenade on over to where the squad was as the explosion engulfed the entire unit. Only two of them survived the blast, but they were in too much pain to stand back up. I finished the rest of them by firing the remaining rounds in my rifle. Now that I think about, just how many have I taken care of since I came to this building? Probably a shitload of them, I bet.

After reloading, I walked over to where the soldiers came from into some offices. To the left of them was a door that led into a supply closet. Along the wall was a power generator with the lever stuck up. Pulling the switch, the rest of the power came back to this place as all the lights were beginning to work. Heading back into the other office, I saw a computer lying on a table with ATC documents pulled up into the screen. I sent all the information to Betters with him telling me what they were about.

"Well, Fettel wasn't made from Harlan Wade's DNA. There's an email from Wade about the 'subject' being in an induced coma. Those ATC security goons killed Bishop because somebody didn't want this getting out. They aren't just worried about some ethically questionable bioengineering experiments. I think they're covering up some pretty nasty shit." Betters signed off as I was left to ponder my thoughts.

A coma, huh? Then that means whoever they got that genetic reference from, it was by force. When this is all over, justice needs to be served to Armacham. Those bastards have to burn for what they've done...

Holding my anger back, I had to figure out where to go. With the power back online, one of the elevators was now available for me to use. I pressed the switch on the control panel by it to bring the machine up to the 5th floor. Inside, I pressed "G4" which I'm sure Alice went to exit this place. As the elevator was soon to approach there, Alice got back on the line to talk to me and Betters.

"I'm sorry for the trouble, but I made it to my car." she explained to us.

"Ms. Wade, if you'll just wait a minute..." Betters tried to say with Alice interrupting him.

"I can't. I have to go." Alice said as the sound of a car turning on was heard.

Betters yelled out "Ms. Wade!" as the doors of the elevator opened. I moved ahead of the machine as I looked to the right through a shutter gate. I saw Alice backing up with her black Porsche and then turning around towards the exit. I was too late to stop her... Betters got a hold of me over the comlink.

"Fuck it. Get to the roof of the parking garage for pickup. You can still get there before her."

Now was the time for me to leave this place. I'm sure not going to miss this place. Exiting this back room out through the opening on the other end, I was now in the more open part of this garage. The far end of the garage was now closed, which I guess Alice was responsible for closing behind her. If I am to meet up with whoever is picking me up, I'm gonna have to run up through each floor of this parking garage.

I went all the way to the other side of this floor to take a ramp up to "G3". Just as I entered this area, gunfire was heard as bullets hit the wall next to me. On the other side of this place were 4 Replica soldiers running up to where I was. This must be their final stand to stop me. Well I'll make sure this is their last fight, with me killing every last one of them.

I returned fire from my assault rifle to the soldiers coming while moving next to some stacked supplies for cover. Two of them were taken care of, while the others crouched down by one of the parked cars. They may think they're safe for now, but they just gave me a reason to vandalize right now. Firing some more rounds back at where the engine was, the car exploded into a ball of flame as the two remaining Replicas were engulfed in flame. As they lay on the ground screaming and dying, I ran past them all the way to the next ramp.

Before I went up to "G2", there was an armored van parked up to the top. Walking up there slowly, I saw that it definitely belonged to the Replica Army, only no one appeared to be inside. Looking over to the left, I saw a squad of 5 Replicas positioned next one of Armacham's patrol cars, talking to each other about some plan. They must not know what happened down here. From here I grabbed one of the two grenades on my belt and threw it as far as I could to the soldiers. As they tried to get away, the blast went off as 3 of the soldiers were killed. The remaining two were able to get away and ran over to where I was, each of them carrying the Vokkler-12 shotguns.

From here I used up the rest of my ammo for the G2A2 onto the 2 Replicas, killing them before they could make a clean shot from their weapons. I pilfered ammo for the rifle from the dead soldiers, as well as taking one of the shotguns with several shells stacked up for later use. I reloaded the current magazine for my rifle and holstered the shotgun to my back. Running past the Armacham vehicle and bodies of their security force, I continued all the way to the ramp on the far end that led up to "G1"

There were two armored vehicles at the top here, with a small squad of Replicas exiting from the back of one of the vans. Shooting some bullets over to the two soldiers, they were taken care of as the rounds went to their limbs and chests. These ones took a lot more bullets to take down compared to the others, most likely to their more advanced armor and uniforms. I heard more three more of them to the left van coming towards my position. Using my last grenade I threw it over to their feet, waiting for it to go off. They tried to retreat next to a support pillar, but the explosion was too close for them to avoid. Limbs and blood were scattered everywhere as my job was done...

Then I heard a monsterish shout come from the other van. A Heavy Armor slowly walked out as he looked over to where I was hiding. I kept on firing the last bits of ammo for my rifle towards the beast as it was returning fire with its Penetrator. One of the nails had grazed my right arm a bit as I tried to take cover by the closest van. The pain was excruciating, but not enough to stop me. The only weapon I had left available to use was the shotgun, and I know that the recoil from each shot will make it difficult for my arm to adjust.

Activating my reflexes, I sprinted around the side of the armored vehicle to the back of the Heavy unit. Before it could attempt at hitting me with its weapon, I blasted it several times from almost every angle with nothing but shotgun fire. Before I emptied the weapon, the Heavy Armor had gotten the chance to elbow me across the face. I dropped to the ground behind me, my shotgun flown out of my hand to the side. My hand was now over my cheek, with thankfully with my face not broken. Getting hit by that thing felt like getting decked across the face by a hammer. This thing is much stronger and faster than it looks...

As it brought its weapon to aim it at my chest, I rolled over to the side to pick up my shotgun. Despite the pain on my arm and face, I won't let this thing be the death of me. Keeping my grip tight onto my weapon, I must've pressed the trigger for this thing like a hundred times. At this distance there was no way this thing could survive any more shots. It was blown back from all the shells and landed on the ground. It tried its best to stand back up and I remembered I still had one option left to take this down.

Bringing out my AT-14 pistol, I fired several bullets to the Heavy Armor's face. Eventually the armored Replica died while screaming with that radio frequency under its breath. I need a break from this shit...

The pain made it difficult for me to walk as I tried to reach the lone door several feet away. Trying my best, I turned the knob to see some stairs that led up. Slowly I dragged my body up step by step until I reached the final door up high. I heard the sound of a helicopter coming from outside, which probably meant my evac team was here. Reaching the top, I opened the door that led outside and saw Jin-Sun Kwon, Douglas Holiday, and a lone operative of Delta Force running up to the door.

Holiday shouted "This way!" as him and his Delta squad approached the door and saw me standing there. Jin was happy to see me alive as she looked at me and said "It's good to see you in one piece." I can't imagine how long its been since I last seen her...

"You guys can make out later. Just get that bird in the air!" Betters shouted over the radio to us. Thanks for ruining the moment, boss.

We were all about to board the helicopter, with our next objective to breach the facility where "Origin" took place. They'll all be there. Harlan, Alice, and Paxton Fettel...

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><p>Sufferin' suckatash! What a twist! Reviews would be cool to have btw =O<p> 


	16. Urban Decay

Wow, I cannot believe I forgot to mention how the last chapter was going to be the one where the story stops taking place at Armacham HQ. I wanted to say that sooo badly when I meant to upload the previous chapter, but somehow didn't. Cool beans, huh? But seriously, here is another early chapter that you guys get. I hope you all enjoyed reading this as I enjoyed writing it. Just a few more to go!

"Requiescat in pace, you bastard!" No joke, I actually wanted to say that once to when I was facing a Replica in this game. Has nothing to do with the story, but I just wanted to get that out of my system. Enjoy!

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><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 08 - DESOLATION  
><strong>

**URBAN DECAY  
><strong>

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><p><em><strong>The "Point Man"<strong>_  
>We must have been in the air for almost an hour. The helicopter was heading towards the coordinates I picked up earlier and heading off into the Auburn area of Fairport City. Accompanying me was both Jin and Holiday for this trip. Almost the whole ride over here Jin was patching me up, since she is the medic for F.E.A.R. She kept on lecturing me for not being careful enough, with Holiday making fun of her saying she acts like the concerned housewife. Seeing them bicker back and forth made me smile. It was the first time since this mission started that I was actually happy. On the way to our destination, Betters began to brief us of our new assignments.<p>

"The UTM coordinates from Wade's laptop are right smack in the middle of the Rammelmeier industrial compound in Auburn. Place has been shut down for years." he explained to us.

"Why there?" Jin asked him.

"Well, I did a little digging. Turns out Armacham bought the site from the government back in the '50's. Get this... There used to be some kind of underground military complex in that area. I don't think Armacham was interested in what was on the property. They wanted what was under it. And I'm guessing it has something to do with Origin."

No wonder no one knew about ATC hiding some facility. What better place to hide an illegal program that underground of the section of the city that nobody lives in anymore? Pretty convenient way for them to run some projects without getting any towns folk asking too many questions. And seeing how Armacham has been treating their employees with such "care", it wouldn't be too hard to guess how they would handle some journalist.

Holiday was standing up on the chopper while holding on to the side of the chopper. He was carrying Delta Squad's SMG and was getting ready to kick some ass. I could tell from here that he felt bad about leaving me behind to escort Bishop when ATC security attacked us. He was telling me along the way that it wasn't going to be like last time to where he would let me down. Jin was sitting next to me in the chopper, trying her best to relax. She didn't say it to me, but it looked like she was still worried about Jankowski. Those two knew each other longer than I can imagine, for they were partners for years. As far as she knows, Spen is just M.I.A. As far as I know, he's a phantom in the sickest parts of my mind...

An explosion gone off to the side of the Black Hawk. The pilot yelled out "We're hit!" as the chopper was spinning around. Were we shot at by a missile! The pilot was doing his best to keep the bird in the air, but the damage prevented him from maintaining control. Smoke was filling up the chopper, for all I could hear was the pilot screaming "Dust 2 going down! Repeat, Dust 2 going down!". He got a hold of us in the back and said "Hold on to something!". Me, Jin, and Holiday held on tight to the ship so as to not get thrown around into the interior. This is going to hurt...

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><p>Everything was black. It took a lot of effort, but I did my best to open my eyes I remember the explosion...<p>

We crashed into some kind of building from the roof. Everyone inside was screaming as we held on for dear life. That was the last thing I saw before I was hit on the head from being rocked around inside the ship. My ears were still ringing from all that loud noise. The pain was difficult to work through, but nothing that can slip me into a coma. As my eyesight was beginning to return, I heard Holiday's voice. He was talking to someone over the radio.

"He looks okay, but the pilot's dead and Jin's banged up pretty bad."

When I could see, I was looking up to the brown ceiling above. I felt some kind of warmth coming from behind me as I was starting to sweat a bit. Looking down, I saw Jin sitting down next to a support pillar for this place. Holiday was right, she looked like she went through hell. There was a lot of dirt covering her face and she looked like she was ready to pass out. Holiday was inspecting to see if she had any broken bones until he sat down next to her. Betters then contacted him.

"What about you?" he asked.

"I'll live... but it'll be a while before I can ice skate again." Holiday sarcastically pointed out. At least he isn't too injured to think of a corny joke.

"All right. In that case, I want you to stay with Jin and wait for the medavac." Betters told him. I already knew what he meant by that. I'm going to have to go on alone to our objective...

"You sure you want to send him in alone? These guys ain't fucking around." Holiday questioned him.

The way he said that made it seem like he was a bit hesitant for me to continue on without them. I know how much it meant for Holiday to want to assist me in this mission. He must still feel bad about earlier. Us losing a teammate God knows how, Bishop being killed... Plus him being injured and having to help Jin pretty much sent him off to the sidelines as I go off on my own. Betters spoke to Holiday again.

"We don't have a choice. Fettel could be anywhere and Alice is out there on her own. By the time backup reaches you, she could be dead."

Getting the strength back into my body, I did my best to stand up. After a few seconds of struggling to stand up, I got myself back onto my feet. Next to me was the combat shotgun and the G2A2 assault rifle I was supposed to take with me. Picking them up, I holstered the rifle to the side while keeping a firm grip to the Vokkler-12. I still had some grenades and proximity mines stacked up from the ride over here. I also have three mags of my AT-14 pistol available, so no worries there.

I looked over at the destruction caused by the damaged helicopter to where it was covered in flames. The pilot's body was barely hanging off from the cockpit, with his arm outstretched over the seat. I didn't know who he was, but he definitely didn't deserve this. Now that I remember, this is about the 2nd chopper the team has had that got blown up today. And the other two times I used a chopper to get somewhere, my entire squad was killed on site. I'm beginning to notice a pattern here.

I turned around to look back at both Jin and Holiday. Jin was still pretty injured, but she knew how to take care of herself. She was doing her best to keep herself calm and relaxed so as not to make her wounds worst. Holiday was wincing in pain as he did his best to sit down next to Jin. He still had his weapon available on him, so at least if anyone enemy troops were to show up, he would be able to take care of Jin and himself. He looked at me and instructed me of our current placement.

"We're still a couple klicks away from the Rammelmeier compound, so you're going to have to get there on foot." Holiday told me. Betters then contacted me over the radio.

"I've got a lot of enemy movement in that area, so expect trouble. They probably want to make sure there weren't any survivors" he said as he then signed off the radio.

The sound of another helicopter was heard far above us. It might be whoever attacked us and is preparing to drop off some of their troops down here. We all didn't like the outcome of this situation, but right now it was up to me to take care of Fettel. As I was exiting this room, I looked back at both Jin and Holiday as they saw me leave. It was almost as if this would be the last time we would ever see each other... I shouldn't be thinking like this.

I walked through this run-down place to reach a set of stairs leading up. The entire place was filthy. Supplies were scattered everywhere, the driest parts of the red walls exposed, and cracks on the hard floor and ceiling. From what I can figure this is some kind of apartment complex that people used to live at before the entire district made it impossible to live here. Amazingly, a lot of lights were still working in this place. Not all of them, but enough for me to see where I was going. Making my way through the second floor, Betters contacted me.

"I'll bet you anything the ground water contamination in Auburn is coming from that secret Armacham facility. That's got to be why they sent somebody to that water treatment plant. They're worried it'll get traced back to them."

What Betters said pretty much took the words right out of my mouth. All that information we found back at their HQ about the contamination and their task force was linked to this district. And Armacham is trying to save their own ass by getting rid of any and all evidence of their involvement of this place. Once I reach this facility, I'm going to make sure to expose those sick sons of bitches.

One of the walls here had an exposed hole for me to get through. Problem was is that there were some wooden boards covering it. After kicking them off, I went through the tight corridors of this abandoned complex. Some rooms were blocked off, some by destroyed property and others by items piled up in front of them. There was another stairway at the end of this hall that I took around to reach the next floor. I stopped when I heard voices up ahead. It was a Replica squad stationed here.

"Command, there's no sign of enemy activity."

"Hold position there until the advance team locates the Vault entrance."

That must mean Fettel and his soldiers found out from Armacham HQ where this place was too. Looking ahead, some parts of this floor was badly damaged that I would have to take some side rooms to get across. There were a few soldiers stationed up ahead with a Heavy Armor unit nearby. I hope this ends up better than my last experience with those things. To the right of me was a small room with a single Replica standing here with his back towards me. I snuck up behind him and broke his neck as quietly as I could.

Lowering his body to the ground, I looked over to see the squad still hadn't noticed me. The other two soldiers were still next to the Heavy unit, so this gave me an idea how to take them all out. Grabbing one out of my four grenades, I rolled the device along the floor to where they were standing. One of them had looked down and tried to get the others to notice. But he was too late as the blast went off, killing the two soldiers and heavily wounding the armored soldier. With it weakened, I ran up to it and blasted it with shotgun shells until it died. The scream it gave off was like the others, almost like a dead radio channel. It probably warned any other Replicas in this place.

Moving through the damaged rooms, I stopped to see about 2 Replicas stationed at a hallway facing left. Through the hole in the wall here, I could see them aim their rifles down range, possibly waiting for me to go that way. These bastards didn't know that I was watching them. Putting away my shotgun, I grabbed the G2A2 and opened fire at the unsuspecting soldiers. They didn't have a chance to return fire as the bullets easily went through their bodies. After they were dead, I went around the area until I ended up to the hallway the soldiers were originally at. There was a small drop here to the lower floor that I could use to get out of here.

After dropping down, I could see that this floor was more beat-up than the last one. Most sections of the walls here were completely gone, with the ones still around all filthy and covered in lousy graffiti. There was a broken down elevator here, with apparently its only use was just to throw some shit into here for storage. Can't imagine what life was like for this place back in the day.

There was a spot where a door should be that led outside onto a small balcony in between two parts of the building. Some blocks of wood were nailed in my way, but I easily took care of that by knocking them off. When I came outside, I heard the sound of a chopper flying above me. I looked up to see it heading to the right, probably to drop off some reinforcements for another sector. I just know that I'm going to have to fight them. I just know it.

Taking the left path inside the other section of the building, I heard some Replica activity in the next room along the right side. Looking inside the other room, I saw about 3 of them entering from a hallway to the left. They were all next to a lone couch in the center of the far room up ahead. Not wanting them to get the drop on me, I took out my shotgun and fired at all three of them. It only took a few shots for me to kill them all with ease as I then walked past their dead bodies.

Entering the next corridor, some parts of this place I couldn't go past due to a bunch of supplies and dirt stacked in the middle. I went around this area some more and heard something loud moving. This entire place started to shake as crumbles of dirt fell from the floor above. Something was definitely here. In the next room was a maze-like room, with some walls not finished for construction and cabinets randomly leaning against them. It looked like there was an opening on the far end of this room I could use to exit this section of the building. Before I reached there though, something huge had dropped down from the ceiling above. Holy shit, it was one of those mechanized Replica units with the lasers!

As quickly as I could, I ran backwards the way I came while firing several rounds of my rifle to the REV6 unit. It was using its brute strength to tear apart the walls while trying to get a clear shot at me with its weapon. I fired the entire stream of bullets to when I reached the previous corridor. Reloading, I tried to think of the best way to take this thing out. With these tight spaces, it would be impossible for me to circle this thing without getting blasted by those lasers. Looking back, I saw the armored unit tear through the entrance of the last room as it was trying to chase me.

Remembering that I still had some mines to use, I placed one on the ground next to the entrance of the other room I passed before. Quickly I put the device just out of view of the REV6 so that it wouldn't see it as it tried to follow me. Running for my life away from where it was coming, I heard the mine go off as a huge explosion occurred behind me. Turning my head around, I saw that the machine was quite damaged from the blast. If I could just lay down one more, it should be enough to destroy this thing.

Placing my 2nd proximity to the ground behind me, the REV6 Replica unit still continued its pursuit to track me down and kill me. Whoever was piloting that thing must be very determined to fill me full of holes. I guess he didn't learn his lesson when the mine triggered the next explosion. Looking back, I saw that it was still standing but heavily broken. I fired some rounds towards the chest area of the Powered Armor unit as the bullets penetrated through its armored plating. When it took too much, the Replica unit then blew up into several pieces as both parts and blood were scattered all across the walls. Score one for me.

Catching my breath from all the running I was doing, I laid on over to the wall next to me. After my body started to cool down, I started to head back the way I was going before that Replica unit crashed through the ceiling. When I got there, I saw that my exit out of here was blocked off by some more wooden boards placed against it. Not too much trouble, considering I just fought a giant mech unit about 8 feet tall. After breaking the weak 2x4 down, I continued through a corridor and turned left into a dark room. I could now see the outside section of this place as the night sky gave off a dark-blue luminescent feel. There was a destroyed section of the next hall to the north-west of my position to where two Replicas were stationed at.

Through the open window in here, I fired at the two soldier from here with my G2A2. They both died soon after before they could attempt to shoot me. Next thing I knew, a purple beam went straight through next to my face. If I was just an inch closer to the right, I would definitely be dead. I looked on over to the right to the other section of this apartment to see about 3 Replicas by a window alongside the structure. Each one of them were carrying those Type-7 Particle weapons from before, the kind that can completely disintegrate the human body. If I'm not careful here, I'm gonna be a goner.

From this distance, it will take quite a few bullets from my gun to reach the soldiers from here. If I just had a sniper rifle, I could easily hit all three of them with one shot each. Instead I'll have to make due with what I have. Every time I went back up to look back out to where the soldiers were, I took cheap pot shots into one window at a time until some of the bullets were able to hit their helmets. After getting two of them, the last Replica tried to fire at me with that Particle weapon but just barely missed me. Taking this chance for him being exposed, he was close enough for me to end his life with just a few more bullets to his chest.

In the next room to the left led outside to where I killed those 2 soldiers in the corridor. The center of this pathway was completely gone. The only way to the other side was to jump on over there. After I backed up a bit, I ran forward with all the strength in my legs to hop on over to the other end of this hall. I had just landed on the edge of this path, considering myself lucky that I even made the jump.

Turning the next corner, I was now in the next room with the light inside here still working. Inside was a spare Type-7 Particle weapon for me to carry. Holstering both my shotgun and rifle to the side, I lifted the heavy device for I just knew that I was going to need to use it. The exit to this room led outside to a lowered roof for this place. Another one of the Replica helicopters flew above me to the far left nearby. The noise made me aware of 2 Replicas stationed on the roof of the next building above.

Aiming down the scope of the Type-7, I fire two blasts of these beams towards the unsuspecting soldiers. They died quickly as their bodies were completely fried, leaving nothing but their bones. With no other place to go, I dropped down to the lower roof below me as I made my way through some old generators and ventilation systems. I stopped and took cover behind one of them as I saw some more Replicas going through the halls of the building to the north of me. It looked like they were carrying the same particle technology I was currently using.

I counted about 6 of them as each one of them were stationed on separate windows on separate floors. Unless I were to kill them all, there is no way I can leave this place without losing my decent skin. They hadn't seen me yet, so I took this chance to open fire at 2 of the soldiers scouting the roof here with their scopes. After they were disintegrated, the other soldiers began to notice that they were taking fire from the roof and tried to figure out where I was. While two of them were looking for me, I managed to hit both of them without being detected.

The other Replicas began to yell out "He's over there!" as they began to fire at me with those purple beams. I only had about a few shots left, so I had to make these count. I went around this generator away from where they last saw me so that I could get the drop on them. With their attention away from my previous position, I sniped them both from here as I used up the rest of this things ammunition. With them dead, I was now free to figure out where to go from here.

To the right was a small ledge next to the building to the right to where those other soldiers I encountered were at. Jumping down it, I then climbed up the next section of the smaller roof to where the other building was. Leaving behind the Type-7 due to its low ammo and weight, I dropped it to the ground behind me and brought up my combat shotgun in case of any more close encounters. And I was right, for the door alongside this building here opened up to about 2 Replicas coming outside. Before they could open fire at me, I blasted them apart with my shotgun as they were blown back.

Entering inside the building, I was now into another run-down section of this place. Some of the lights were disabled while the ones that did work were too far apart for me to see quite clearly. There was more Replica activity going on alongside the hallway to the left at the intersection here that I thought was too risky to turn on my flashlight. Moving along the hall, there was one room to the left of me where 3 Replicas stationed at. It looked like they were trying to communicate with the other Replicas in the next building across the street about what was going on.

I grabbed one grenade from my pocket as I threw it over to the closest Replica from here. As it made contact with his back, the explosion went off killing him and the other two soldiers nearby. The Replicas from the next building were surprised with what happened as they weren't sure what happened. Using my reflexes, I went through the smoke caused by the blast and opened fire to the last spots that they were standing at. Luckily, I managed to kill them both as they died screaming. Waiting for the dust to settle, I was now what appeared to be in an old broken down kitchen. There was a small handheld radio system lying on the corner that amazingly still worked. The news channel was on as one of the male reporters was talking about what happened earlier.

"According to a government spokesperson, a second Black Hawk helicopter has crashed, this one in Auburn. Earlier, a Black Hawk was apparently shot down by a helicopter belonging to the unidentified terrorist group that seized Armacham headquarters this evening around 4:30pm. The cause of the second crash as not been determined. Nor is it clear whether there were any survivors."

I guess with all the attention Fettel's army has been getting, that even the news stations would even come to a low-income district like Auburn. One of the rooms ahead of me had a hole on the ground that I could take to get to the lower floor. Convenient enough, there was also an old mattress to soften my fall. Dropping down, I went through the corridor nearby until I reached a red door. Hopefully I must be getting close to the Rammelmeier compound. At least both Holiday and Jin are safe where they are, for I'm sure that these are the last of the Replica forces here.

I opened the door to where know I was in another run-down part of this place. The light above me was barely working, but I could see just fine. Across me was an exposed hole in the wall to where I could see the other side of the next room. As I got closer, I could see someone standing by the hole... It was Alice Wade! Thank God I caught up to her. I walked up to her to see if she was okay. But something was wrong... she was just standing there looking at me. She had an expression of fear all across her face, terrified to even move. There was something on her neck that looked like fingers wrapped around it. That was when I heard his voice.

"Is this who you're looking for?"

It was Paxton Fettel. He stood out from behind Alice with his grip over her neck. He was staring at me with this demonic smile across his face. I was too late to find her before he did. Alice looked so afraid, that she looked like would pass out from being next to the guy. Fettel turned towards and brought his face over to her neck. He sniffed her skin as his smile grew ever bigger. He looked back at me and said:

"She smells nice."

It was too risky to try and fire at him when he had Alice as a hostage. Before I could think of a way to save her, Fettel ran off with Alice as he dragged her off into the other room. If I hurry, I just might be able to catch up with them both. To the right was a path I took to sprint on over near an elevator room. There was a small trail of blood that went off into the next area I could follow. It better not be Alice's... There was a lone broken elevator to the right where some light was coming from. I then heard a voice inside.

"I'm over here."

Looking back at the elevator, I saw that the voice came from inside. Slowly, I walked over to the device to see if anyone was inside. There was no one there. Maybe I was just hearing things. As I went to look, away, I then saw someone standing next to me inside the machine. It was that little girl...

Before my mind could process completely what happened, she disappeared as the light inside the elevator was no longer working. Am I imagining things again? Maybe Fettel is doing this to slow me down. It won't stop me for long. I followed the path I was taking earlier to where I seemed to approaching the other side of that hole. I must be getting close to them. I turned around the next corner...

Alice was dead. Her body was laid out on the ground with blood splattered across the floor and wall. I failed to save her... Fettel is responsible for all this! When I find him, I'm going to tear him apart with my bare hands! His voice then rang clear inside my head.

"She told me so many things..."

Everything turned to darkness. The light inside here came back after a second to reveal Alice was gone. So was all the blood. Then that must mean... this too was an hallucination? If there is a small chance that Alice is still alive, then that means I haven't failed yet. Good chance Fettel is using his powers to slow me down some more by making me see things. That won't stop me.

There was a pathway to the right of me I could take to try and follow them. Just as I had entered there, everything flashed into a bright white.

* * *

><p>I remember this place... This was the same place I had seen in my visions earlier. The burning building to where I had seen that little girl. The same place to where the woman was screaming as a child was crying. This time, I was now on the other side of those double doors as there were some steps leading up on the left. At the top was more doors to where that little girl in red was standing by. It looked like she was crying. With time moving slowly for me, I tried to hurry to reach her.<p>

Everything flashed before me again, and this time I was farther away from her. Looking back, I saw that now I was near where those double doors were before. Looking back, I noticed that the hallway in front of me had now gotten longer. The lone light at the end here showed that girl standing there next to the set of doors. Soon I was finally able to get closer and closer to the girl. Before I could reach her, my sight flashed white once again.

The two doors ahead of me opened to where I could see nothing but fire and darkness beyond them. My sight flashed again as three figures were coming towards me. I remember them... They are the beings that take the form of a person. Their skin was gray, bright yellow spots for their eyes looking right at me. They were floating towards me with their arms stretched out for me. They were going to kill me. I raised my weapon to fire at them. The bullets went through them as their forms dispersed into smoke. They are coming closer. They are ready to strike...

* * *

><p>I was still firing my weapon until I realized I was no longer back at that dark place. There was no warning that I had left. Only that it seemed that after blinking I was back at the apartment complex. That place was no illusion this time. It felt completely real. Even those things looming closer to me were real. That girl crying was real. What is happening to me...?<p>

I must've wasted too much time here, for God knows how long it was since I've been there. There is a good chance that Fettel might've gotten away with Alice at this point. But not everything had to be that bad. If Fettel and his forces are still looking for the entrance to that secret facility, he might still need Alice to open the doors there. And I doubt he is going to kill one of his only chances of entering that place. Whatever is down there for him, he's not going to get.

Moving on, I went through some more corridors until I had reached a dead end. There was an empty spot for a window to the left me next to a broken heater on the wall. Down below was an alley I could jump down to that may I could use to reach the Rammelmeier compound on foot. Good thing too, for this place started to look fucking disgusting.

I jumped down below into the alley as I was getting ready to head towards my destination...

* * *

><p>ZOMGOSH! What a twist! Now every time I think of Alice, I think of Ashley from Resident Evil 4. Reviews pretty, pretty please!<p> 


	17. Point of Entry

Ohhh, this one was fun to do. A bit longer than I actually remember playing, but my mind has played tricks on me before. But NOTHING like what any main playable character of the F.E.A.R. games get! Anyway, this story is almost over from when it started. So just a bit more to go and then I can say that this will be over for me for a while.

Oh, yeah, you just lost the game too. Have fun!

* * *

><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 08 - DESOLATION  
><strong>

**POINT OF ENTRY  
><strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>The "Point Man"<strong>_  
>I was now in the dark alleys of the Auburn district. Graffiti on the gray walls, dozens of trash bags, and litter scattered all across the cold cement. The sound of a helicopter flew past the buildings as I looked up to see it flying away. Seems like the Replica forces were soon converging into this section of the city, probably to look for the entrance for the Vault. I'm going to have to hurry and get there before they do. Betters then contacted me about the situation out here.<p>

"I'm picking up major enemy movement on the satellite. They're all over that area. Watch your back."

Don't have to tell me twice. Continuing through the filthy alleys, I turned the next corner to a long alleyway with the other end leading to a way back onto the main street. When I got about halfway here, I heard a voice to the right. It sounded like a "I'm over here" as I looked over to see a darker corner of this place. Turning on my flashlight, I slowly went down the garbage filled area to where there was a small TV on the ground. There was some static on the screen, but it wasn't even plugged in to anything.

The static cleared up to show that little girl from before. She was walking slowly into what looked like that building I was at. There was someone on the other side of the door doing something, but it was hard to tell what it could be. Just as she reached the door, the channel then got disconnected. All that was left on the TV was a black screen with some more static. Last thing I heard as it transitioned to that was hearing the girl's voice from inside the box.

"Give him back."

I can't believe that I actually just stood here to watch my crazy thoughts now projected onto a broken down TV with no connection. But considering everything else I've been through, this actually isn't the strangest thing to happen to me. Who was it that the girl wanted back though? It's all so weird...

Going back to the previous alley, I turned to the right back the way I was originally going. Before I made it to the next corner, I heard laughter ahead of me. It sounded just like hers...

There was a locked fence gate in front of me where even with my flashlight, made it too difficult to see past it. Maybe I was just hearing things. Turning back around, I heard that laughter again beyond the gate. Looking back, this time I saw the 8-year old girl in red standing on the other side. I couldn't see her face, but something told me she found some humor into this. Before I could do anything, she dispersed into black dust as her form withered away. I don't know how much more I can take from seeing her...

Heading back, I turned the next corner into a tight alleyway that led out onto an open street. There was more trash and graffiti layered out here as I made my way through here. I stopped for a moment when I saw 2 Replica soldiers walking towards this end of the street ahead. They hadn't noticed me yet, so I took this chance to wipe them with some good, clean headshots from my assault rifle. With them taken care of, I reached the end of the street.

At the far end of this street was a bridge above me with the lights to the side still functioning. It looked like there was a tunnel I could take to get to the building where the entrance to the facility is. Good thing I can memorize maps. As I was walking over there, I heard a car coming down from there. An armored van came into view past the corner under the bridge, and I knew whose it belonged to. The Replica vehicle went 180 as the rear end of it was facing towards me. As it did that, the other broken-down vehicles along the path were tossed over from the van's turning. Now my path was blocked off, and I had a squad of pissed off clone soldiers ready to attack me.

I grabbed one of the grenades on my belt with my left hand and threw it over to the armored vehicles back end. As I predicted, a squad of Replicas were beginning to come out as the doors to the van opened up. The grenade made contact with the soldier in front, the explosion catching both him and whoever else was inside. The driver didn't come out of the vehicle, so I'm guessing that he was part of the team that was supposed to attack me. Looking over there, I saw blood and flesh all across the interior of the vehicle. The hatch to get to the drivers seat was locked off, so I couldn't drive this thing to where I had to go. Guess I'm still going to have to walk.

To the right side of this street was a door to the side of this next building I could probably use to get around this place. It was blocked off with supplies stacked against it on the other side, but the spot where a window should be was acceptable. All I had to do was knock off the wooden boards and then I could enter inside. Moving through the yellow hall here, I saw a set of double doors that I could open into a small garage. It looked like the kind where semi trucks would back up into deliver supplies. I'm going to have to find an exit to get back outside from here.

Next thing I know, a fucking van broke through one of the gates to the right of me! An explosion went off behind it as the vehicle crashed into the wall next to me. The back doors opened up as a squad of about 4 Replicas coming out of the vehicle. Shit, how did they know I was in here?

Using my reflexes, I put away my rifle and brought out the shotgun on my back. With time moving slower for me yet faster for me, I blasted each and every one of them at close-range with Vokkler-12. Each one of them had died quickly as their bodies were flown back to the wall behind them. Got to say, these guys are definitely pulling out some new tricks to stop me.

Looking outside where the van came from, I saw about 3 more soldiers and a Heavy Armor unit outside in the open area. They must not have known that I was still alive, for they could barely see inside of the building due to all the smoke here. Taking to the offensive, I holstered back my shotgun and pulled out my G2A2. From this distance, it was easy to shoot down the remaining soldiers out here with ease. Now I just got to figure out how to kill the Heavy unit.

As I was contemplating a plan, I heard the sound of rockets coming towards me. Trusting my instincts, I went over to the other side of this garage as the missiles made contact with the wall I was at before. It sounded like three of them were all fired at once, and I knew what this meant. That Heavy didn't have the HV, but instead the MOD-3 Multiple Rocket Launcher. This was going to be a tough one to beat.

The other end of this garage had a small office I entered to where there was a back door behind the heavy doors that led outside. Looking out through the glass window here, I saw the Heavy Armor slowly walk up towards where the exposed garage was. It probably didn't know that there was a smaller door here that I could see it from. From what I remember, that rocket launcher only carried about 15 rockets at a time due to its wide length. The Heavy just fired 3 of them, so that left about 12 more it could use. If I can get it to run out of rockets, I can take away its only long-range capabilities. I just got to stay alive to make it all possible, first.

Kicking open the door, I got the things attention as it looked over to me. As it was beginning to fire the rockets towards me, I used my heightened speed to run back into the previous office. As the rockets went off behind me, I went back out towards the destroyed garage door where the thing saw me again. It fired 3 more rockets where I was to where I ran back inside, away from the blast radius. I did it about 2 more times until the thing ran out of missiles to use. With no more ammo for the MOD-3, it slowly made its way over to where its dead comrades were to pick up their weapons to use. Not wanting to give it the chance, I ran outside and fired all the bullets and shells from both the G2A2 and the Vokkler. Soon enough, the Heavy died as it gave off that radio-like scream.

The coast clear, I salvaged some ammunition from the dead Replicas nearby for my rifle, but was now out of shells for the shotgun. There was no other type of weapon I could take, so I'm going to have to keep my eyes open for now for new guns. There was another one of those armored vans parked into the corner of the exit here, with the back end exposed. This must've been where the other squad of soldiers came from. It was blocking the entryway for the next street, and I couldn't reach the drivers seat from here. Looking for another way out of this huge area, I saw some boxes and barrels stacked up by a 10-foot tall wooden fence. If I can climb on top of those and then hop over the fence next to them, then I can reach another back alley. Hopefully I can use this to get closer to my destination.

Reaching the other side of the fence, I was now on the tight back alley between two buildings left and right. At the far, far end of this alley was a corner I could go to that could lead me back into the streets. Unfortunately, as I was on my way to there, another of the Replicas armored vehicles had just drove into the corner up ahead. Despite its width, it was speeding towards me in this tight space as it was getting ready to hit me. My heart racing, I tried to figure out what I could do.

I looked to the right to see an exposed section of the building where a door was supposed to be. Not sure where it leads, but its better than the front bumper coming my way. I jumped inside as quickly as I could as the vehicle had just passed where I was last at. Landing on my feet, I saw out the window of this place to see that the van had stopped. It began to back up slowly to where it came from until it stopped after a few feet. I then heard some Replicas in the room above me on the right say "In here!" as footsteps were marching towards my position.

From where I was, there was a small open spot next to some stairs available that I could probably hide at. Waiting for a couple moments, there were about 4 Replicas slowly scouting the area that I was last at. As all of them were close enough to each other, I took one of the last 2 grenades in my pockets and rolled it along to the ground next to them. When they figured out where the grenade was, the explosion ignited as they all died from the blast. Looking at all their bodies and bodies part fly off into the air, I can safely say that they weren't going to be any more trouble.

I went up the steps and slowly went through the area in case if any more of them were close by. When I reached over to the next room to the right, there was a door leading outside to this fence along the left of me. Through the open spots of the wooden fence, I saw 4 more of the Replicas climbing on top of some supplies. They must be reinforcements. Hiding behind some barrels nearby, I watched as all of them hopped over the tall fence one by one. Waiting until they got closer, I came up to surprise them with multiple bullets fired from the G2A2. Streaming the shots going left to right, I only emptied about half of the magazine in the gun as the Replicas were soon disposed of.

I couldn't go back out the alleyway I came from, so I had to look for another detour. There was another spot in between two buildings to the north and east of me I could take to leave this place. Thankfully it was too thin for any more fucking cars to run me over. Exiting this back alley, I saw another poorly built fence in place next to a wide, green trash container. The smell was atrocious, but nothing that would tear off my nose. Betters contacted me over the radio channel.

"The Rammelmeier compound is just ahead. Looks like the largest concentration of enemy forces in that area." he said. He just had to say that last part...

There was an exposed hole alongside the fence here to there was a small drop below. Jumping down there, I now appeared to be behind the back end of this giant billboard here. Moving along the ledge behind it, I looked over to the left so see a large, old construction site. This was obviously back when they were trying to build new buildings for some of the rich politicians back in the day. The place was mostly unfinished, for only steel bars were set up in its place.

The path ahead only led to another ledge that was too far of a drop for me to go to without breaking my legs. There was a cabinet along the right edge here to where there was a glass window here. Breaking the glass from this side, I climbed up inside and entered the building. Leaving the run-down room with its overturned supplies, I went up the stairs to the upper floor to where there was a door here. Opening it, I was back outside to a balcony that overlooked the previous area I was at.

To the right was another in-between section of this building and another next to me that I could drop down below. A fence behind me blocked off the area before me, so I had to go the opposite way. At the far end was another wide open area I could go towards to where the Rammelmeier area should be.

Another one of the armored vehicles turned the corner ahead of me and was coming towards me! Dammit, I had no where to hide this time. Running back the way I came, there was a small opening along the wall here I could take cover from the vehicle. Hopping over to the side in that spot, the van had just passed me as it went through the fence. The speed of the vehicle caused it to fly down towards some of the construction site below to where it crashed. Getting back on my feet, I looked down to see the vehicle in flames as it blew up. The dark smoke made it hard to see what was going on down there, but I was pretty sure that the Replicas that just tried to kill me got karma to bite them in the ass.

How on earth do these guys keep figuring out where I am? I check all around me to see if they probably had put a transmitter on me without me looking. There was nothing on me, so I was left clueless as to how they keep determining my position. Back to the task at hand, I went back towards the section in between the two buildings towards where I was going. If another one of those motherfucking cars tries to run me over again, there's no telling what I'm going to do to the next driver.

Heading onto the other side, I was now where I was supposed to be. This was the section of the city on our map on the way over here to were the Rammelmeier compound is. The wide building to the side here was hard to read the label, for I could only make out "Machinery, Inc." due to the old paint fading. Either way, this will lead me closer to where the opening of that facility should be. Looking for an entrance, I saw a door along the middle of this wall here to see some steps that led to the open door.

Before I entered inside, I heard in the sky another helicopter flying away from here. For once, I just want it to be one of ours, and not the enemy. That too hard to ask? Entering the run-down building, I was amazed to find out the power was still working in here. The majority of the lights were still on. There was even an handheld radio inside the small room in front of me still active. It was set on to one of the news stations to where a male reporter has been talking Auburn.

"The situation in Auburn seems to be intensifying. Shortly after a U.S. military helicopter crashed on the roof of an abandoned hotel, fierce fighting was reported in the surrounding area. Police have expanded their cordon to include Auburn and have begun evacuating residents from the primarily industrial district."

Smart move on their part. At least with the civilians out of here, there isn't any risk of innocent people getting hurt. That should make my job less stressful.

Going down the hallway here, I turned to face a set of double doors. Opening one of them, I was now in some kind of generator room. This part of the building was dark, with only the light coming from outside making it possible to see. The windows above the machines were broken or covered with dirt to see out of. Looking along the rusty fence-like section of the floor, there was a small opening exposed with the latch partially open. There wasn't any doors or windows for me to exit out of, so I guess this will just have to do the trick.

Entering inside, I crawled through the tight space here until there was a drop below. Carefully, I went down to where now this place was easy enough to walk through. The yellow bricks and pipes almost gave it a kind of trippy experience to walk around in. After several turns in this place, I stopped to hear one of the Replicas in the other room to the right. Peeking my head out, I saw three Replicas standing on top of a ledge above some of the bigger pipes in the next area. It looked like another section of this building with about three floors. One of them had said:

"The commander has entered the Vault. All elements, secure a perimeter around the main entrance."

"Understood."

Oh crap, Fettel got there before me. And God knows if Alice might still be alive with him. I'm going to have to hurry to catch up with them. Aiming down my sights, I opened fire at the soldiers up ahead with my assault rifle. I got two of them as the last one tried to take cover behind a steel beam to the side. He came back out to return fire at me where I took cover by the previous pipes. Waiting for him to stop firing, I came back to fire the remaining bullets in my gun towards his head. After he was killed, I reloaded my G2A2 and went out slowly to where they were. Looking up, I saw that there were some ladders I could climb up to the 3rd floor towards a small room.

Hopping up on the pipes next to me, I reached up to the first floor and walked up to one of the yellow ladders placed along the wall. Climbing up it, I went to the highest floor here up onto a metal balcony. On the other side of this place, another squad of Replicas were coming out from the room I intended to go. They would've been a bit overwhelming - especially since these weren't the lower-classed Replicas - if it weren't for the well-placed gasoline barrel they were unintentionally walking towards. Firing a single bullet of my rifle at the container, all of the soldiers were consumed in fire as they were screaming in pain. Eventually they all died as the burns got to their skin.

Dropping onto the ledge along the 2nd floor, I went past the open hall to the right of me and walked over to the next ladder across. Reaching the balcony on the 3rd floor, I went into the small room to see a locked door inside. All that work for nothing. Only thing of any value was one of those Penetrator weapons lying on the floor with some ammo for it. Heading back down the ladder, I went back to that hallway I passed before to see it too lead back onto where the first ladder was. Next to me was an exposed open hole on the floor here that I could take. Jumping down there, I hopped onto another drop to where now I was in another section of pipes. I hope I'm not stuck in some damn maze.

Moving through the area, I was now near a ramp that led down somewhere. Slowly, I went around the next hallway to where I was another parking garage. One of the Replica Army's armored vehicles was parked here for some time, probably for that last squad I killed. Only other thing of relevance was another path by some more pipes I could take to leave. I stopped to where I saw 4 Replicas stationed by some exposed parts of the walls in the next room. It looked like a 2-story section of the building, for there was an upper floor with a small ledge above them. Putting away the assault rifle, I took out the HV Penetrator and aimed carefully at one of the soldiers.

Using my reflexes, I fired as fast as possible towards each of their heads. They were all shocked with what was happening and tried to figure out where I was. I didn't let them get the chance to find me, for I fired a nail into every one of them as their bodies were stuck to the walls next to them. I'll say, this thing sure has quite the push when it comes to hitting something. Heading on down, I looked around near the next area to see a Heavy Armor come around the next corner. It looked like he was just came from some stairs from the upper level, so at least I know where to go after I kill it.

Using the Penetrators piercing nails, I fired several rounds to the Heavy's chest and limbs. The injuries caused by the weapon was too much for it to bear as it fell down to the ground behind it. It screamed out the static scream as all the others as it soon died from the pain. That was definitely one of the easiest encounters I've had with these things in a while. Taking some of its ammo from its own Penetrator, I saw that there were some of the Replicas grenades and proximity mines safely placed on top of some empty barrels. Stacking up on those, I was beginning to make my way to the stairs. Only thing stopping me was one of the nails from the Penetrator hitting the wall next to me.

Looking back into a closed off room, I saw another one of those Heavy Armor's coming inside from another entrance there. Quickly, I took cover the wall to the right to where I was out of view of the metallic beast. Clutching a grenade in one hand, I threw it over into the room where armored Replica was. The explosion went off as I looked back inside to see it barely standing. I finished it off with some more rounds of the Penetrator I was using. After it was dead, I reloaded the Penetrator and walked up to the next floor.

On the other side of here, three more Replica soldiers were coming up from the stairway nearby. I took cover by some boxes before they could spot me. One of them had said "He took out the Heavy!" as him and companions were scouting the area. They were looking over the area I was at to where I killed the previous Heavy Armor, possibly expecting me to still be there. Taking out my assault rifle, I fired several bullets to each of the soldiers across from me before they could have a chance to shoot me. After they were all dead, I walked across the ledge connecting both sections of this floor and went up next to the stairwell.

Heading down the stairs, I passed the room where that last Heavy Armor was and now appeared to be at another generator room. Up ahead of this place, I heard more Replicas coming my way. One of them had said "He wiped out the whole squad!" as him and his rushing towards where I was. There was a small ledge to the right of me next to some barrels. Placing a proximity mine along the path they were going, I put it next to one of the machines while hiding behind the barrels nearby.

As someone would predict, the reinforcements didn't expect me to lay an explosive on the ground for them to walk over. The mine went off as about three of them died from the massive explosion. Seeing that the coast was clear, I carefully walked through the area they came from in case if any were still around. Since there weren't, I now felt at ease and was walking through the place some more until I reached another open area. At the far end of this room was a set of glass windows that showed another room beyond them. As I began to walk over towards them, someone slowly peeked their head to see me.

It was Jankowski... But like before, it wasn't the lively Jankowski me and Jin had gotten to know. It was that ghostly version of him. The one where his eyes were plucked out, his skin like a corpse, and blood covered across his body. He left behind a message for me as his body soon dispersed into the air.

"She's close now. Her presence is strong here..."

This time, I realized what he had meant. He was talking about that little girl. Spencer was saying that her "presence" over this area was unlike the others I went to. Hearing his last words, my thoughts were trying to deduce the meaning of the facility we were supposed to go.

We weren't going to just some abandoned research facility left behind by Armacham. We were going towards the source of that little girl's powers. If Fettel is inside being motivated out of revenge to kill ATC's employees, then it had something to do with the 8-year old's influence of his actions. Fettel hasn't done anything like this before, so maybe this is really out of revenge for that kid. But why him, and why now? What is it that Fettel will do if he were to find her there?

I have to keep going. If I dilly-dally any longer, it may be too late to stop him. The door next to me by the room to where I saw... Jankowski, was locked. There was another door nearby I opened to where some stairs led down. Going that way, I turned down the next corner towards a large metallic door at the far end of this place. This place was unlike any of the other rooms. It looked like a freaking security checkpoint, for it was a wide area for defensive purposes. I didn't have the luxury to explore the place, for there were 2 Replicas stationed ahead of me next to some supplies.

These soldiers looked much different than the others I've fought. While the previous Replicas I faced looked more like just some regular soldier, the ones here were way more advanced. They had a special red helmet on with a white mask over it to where it looked like a face. Their uniform was more black and white than before, with white sleeves on their upper end of their arms bearing the Replica Army symbol. Their body armor completely covered their chest area and looked a lot thicker than the others, making it seem more difficult to pierce through their torso with regular fire. From their appearance, it looked like these were the highest-ranked Replica's in the service. These must be the elite.

One of them brought up some kind of big weapon with his hands. It was about as big a standard rocket launcher, only it didn't look like one from where I was standing, Seeing the other raise his weapon which was similar to his teammate, their both aimed down to where I was standing. Not wanting to know what would happen if I did nothing, I took cover over by the white crates near my position.

A loud kind of boom had hit the walls nearby as I saw a huge impact land the surface of it. What the fuck just happen? They fired again near where I was hiding with more impacts hitting the wall close by. It was as if they were firing some kind of shockwaves from those big-ass cannons they're carrying. Even just a few feet from the blasts, I could feel some kind of weight coming off from the attacks. Great, so even if I'm just slightly close to where the shots go, I still get hurt? Where on earth are these guys getting these things, anyway?

Peeking out to where the soldiers where last at, I saw them still blasting the wall nearby as I tried to my best to keep my focus. I opened fire with some of the last few shots of the Penetrator as some of the nails hit both of the arms of one of the Replicas. Even with 4 of them on his body, he still tried his best to stand on his feet. I guess with them being elites, their endurance is also better than the others. Firing some more nails to him, he soon died as his body was flown back to the wall behind him. The remaining Replica didn't let this flinch him, for know he took cover by the white container nearby as well. I stood out and waited for him to expose his head, for that was the only way I can end this in one shot. Slowly, he brought it out as I fired the last shot of the HV towards his helmet. The nail pierced through his face as his body slowly fell over to the ground.

I couldn't imagine what it would be like if I encountered any more at once. These Replicas were much more trained than before, and certainly heavier equipped than the others. I walked on over towards them to see that the weapons they were carrying looked brand new. On the underside of the weapon had the description: "MP-50 Repeating Cannon." From being blasted by this myself, it seemed like this thing could fire certain types of shockwaves from the interior and release it medium to long range. If fired too close, the shockwaves can also significantly injure the user as well, which was why the Replica Elite's were firing from such a distance.

With no more ammo available for the Penetrator and running low on the G2A2, this is the only other weapon I can take. Lifting it up from the ground near one of the dead soldiers, this thing weighed a lot more than that particle beam weapon I used before. This thing wasn't something I could just put on my back, so I'll have to be wise on adjusting to the weight. There was a small yellow indicator to the top of this thing that gave the number "21." That probably meant how much shots were leftover in this thing. There was a small armory nearby, only it was all just too much for me to carry for it was more of those MP-50's. There was a red ladder here I climbed up to, while trying to keep a grip on this giant cannon.

After opening the door close to where I came up, I saw that this was some kind of secret entrance to the previous place. The filthy looking wall turned out to be some kind of security door placed possibly to prevent any trespassers. Some pretty fancy security for an old abandoned warehouse. Continuing on, I was now on the other side of the room to where I saw that "phantom" of Jankowski. To the left was a corridor I took to go around this place until I had passed an empty supply room in the middle of this place. Betters got a hold of me over the comlink.

"ATC patrol cars are approaching from the west. I got a feeling this situation is about to blow up."

Damn, now they'll be here too. Guess I shouldn't be surprised that they wouldn't want to take care of any outsiders entering their classified facility. Not to mention Fettel is now inside that place with Alice possibly still alive as his hostage. I've got to hurry.

There was another corridor near the empty room I took towards a set of doors. Opening those up, I was in another hallway where some cardboard was covering the windows to the side of here. Moving on, I opened a lone red door to where there were some pipes placed along the walls and ceilings. After getting past those, there was another door ahead that was left open. I was now in some kind of open area with an upper balcony above me. There was a path available along the wall here that I could probably use to get up there. Just as I was about to reach the opening, glass shattered from the dirty windows along the wall across from me. A figure hopped into the building, and I remembered all too well what it was.

It was one of those things that had the same appearance as those creatures that can make themselves invisible. It crouched down on its legs with its arms outstretched for battle. The device on its back caused its transparency to wear off for now as lightning coursed through its back. Its face was as expressionless as the others, with its two yellow sockets for its eyes staring right at me. On the way to this place over the chopper, HQ managed to get some information on these guys.

Apparently, that "Icarus" program was indeed the precursor to that of "Perseus" which created the Replica Army. Before they got to work on just clone soldiers, they developed these guys as a type of stealth unit. Their bones would be adjusted for them to climb and jump on any surface with ease, making it easy to kill a target and run off. But due to how expensive these things cost the scientists of Project Icarus, it made them almost impractical to use to go any further. By the time "Perseus" came around, they were able to salvage the prototypes and assign them to the Replica Army, with some obvious upgrades such as stealth technology. Fittingly, Betters gave them the nickname of "Replica Assassins".

Anyway, I noticed one of those Assassins rushing towards my position. Seeing as how I got a heavy weapon available, I might as well put it to good use. I pulled the trigger of the MP-50 Cannon as the shockwaves made contact with the sprinting Replica. The force from this weapon caused me to almost lose my balance, but I kept my feet firmly on the ground. The Assassin was blown away as it was tossed to the wall behind it. At this range, if the blast didn't kill the thing, the collision from hitting the wall that fast sure did.

Glass broke on another window to the left of me as one of those things came in. I couldn't see it though, due to its invisible field. With how dark this place was, it was a bit difficult to decide which direction it might be coming from. I fired the Cannon towards the pathway the Assassin would probably take to get here, and I was lucky, for one of the blasts made contact with it. It stopped halfway from me to where it came from as its body limped over to the ground, implying its demise.

Quickly, I decided to run up ahead to the path that led to the stairs so that I would get the high ground on these things. Going up the stairs, the glass on the ceiling shattered as one of them landed onto one of the support beams spread horizontally throughout the building. It didn't have its invisibility cloak on at the moment, so I took this chance to fire another shockwave from the MP-50.

It was blown back to the ground as it landed on its back. It definitely looked dead. Continuing through the hall nearby, I was now on a separate path that would lead me into another room up ahead. I stopped when one of the Assassins hopped on to the railing next to me. It was too close for me to risk blasting this thing with the Cannon, and it was about to swipe its claws at me. I used my accelerated reflexes to drop the weapon for a moment and brought my right fist up. I punched the Replica across the face as it fell down to the floor below. For a moment I was pretty sure that my punch broke its jaw. While these guys are agile and dangerous, they were also very easy to kill once you know what you're doing.

It seemed like they were all dead, so now was the time to relax. I picked up the Repeating Cannon off the ground and saw that there was 14 shots left. I have a feeling these were the only ones sent after me. Putting two and two together, I probably figured out how it is the Replica soldiers were able to know where I was. Since these things were invisible the whole time, they must've been sent out as scouts to let each squad know where I was going. It was a wild guess, but it wasn't that farfetched to think about.

I went through the building some more by opening a door in the room ahead and passed through several pipes. There was long set of stairs that went down towards another door below. Going down, I opened the door to where I was now in a grayish corridor. Explosions went off outside as I began to hear gunfire from outside the dirty windows in here. Looking out, I saw two ATC security guards shooting something from the distance to the west. I saw what they were shooting was one of the Replicas Powered Armor units, the REV6. One of the two guards yelled out "We can't stop it!" as the other shouted "Where'd that fucking thing come from!". From where I could see the Powered Armor, it appeared that some of its circuitry was damaged from the firefight outside. But those two guys outside won't last for long.

The REV6 fired several missiles by an ATC cop car near the two grunts as the explosion got the both of them. There was building up ahead that I was sure I had to go to find the entrance for the Vault, only this thing was now blocking the route over there. It was easy to guess what had to happen next. The armored unit did take some significant damage, and all that would be needed to destroy it was just a few more blasts from this Cannon to take it out. I fired a couple blasts towards the mech unit as it figured out my position. It fired multiple rockets from its dual-wield missile launchers where I was standing.

I ran as fast as I could with the heavy weapon towards the far end of the corridor to where there was a storage area. I could take cover in here for now, but I have to go outside to finish off that Power Armor. I climbed down the metal ladder to head down to the lower floor here and then reached a silver door. Opening it up, it lead me outside to where the REV6 was waiting as it saw me just come outside. As it fired more of those rockets towards me, I ran over to the side while returning fire with the Repeating Cannon. All it took was a few more shots until the entire unit was blown up into several pieces.

Since that was taken care of, I continued on my way towards the next building by going past some more of ATC's vehicles. Some of their bodies were laying across the ground out here with limbs blown off and shocked expressions across their faces. They were all male in their 20's or 30's, some Caucasian or African skin tone. Continuing ahead, some loud noises were coming from where I was going. That was when I saw another REV6 unit turning around the corner of the building nearby to the right.

Oh man, not another one... I didn't have time to moan like a little kid, for now this thing was firing several rockets towards me. Like with the last one, I avoided the rockets while returning fire with the Repeating Cannon. Even from here, the shots weren't doing as well as they should for the shockwaves were really only hitting the missiles coming towards me. I fired blast after blast as the REV6 was starting to slow down a bit. I would've kept on my offense if I didn't run out of ammunition for the heavy weapon. I tossed the empty cannon to the ground as I took cover by some big, metal supply crates stacked alongside one of the buildings. Remembering that I had picked up 2 explosive mines from a while ago, I set one of them down on the ground nearby to where the Powered Armor was coming.

I quickly ran off away from the mine as the REV6 got close enough for the explosion to go off. Looking back, the mech unit was still working but barely able to function. I threw another mine on over to where it was standing as the device activated near its mobile feet. The blast caused the Replica mechanized unit to explode as parts and limbs were scattered about the area. Thank God I managed to get through all of this, for I am really starting to get tired of all this shooting and explosions. Can't wait to try an early retirement plan after this is over.

Taking out my G2A2 off my back, I walked on over to the large warehouse nearby to where some ATC vehicles were parked by. One of them was practically on fire, possibly due to earlier conflict with the Replicas. I entered the huge building by ascending some steps to the side and walked through the area. I heard some activity going on in the next room ahead as I put my back on the wall placed onto the center. One of the voices was definitely familiar, even if I could only hear it over the radio. I then recognized the voice of Norton Mapes, that fatass ATC employee from before.

"What's going on up there?" he shouted. One of Armacham's security goons shouted onto the channel saying "We're getting our asses kicked!".

Peeking around the corner, I saw about 4 of ATC's patrols standing around some cabinets and boxes. Wait a minute, I thought Armacham was trying to kill off all the members of that task force Norton was a part of? Unless... the reason was that Mapes is actually trying to help them with cleaning up their mess? It was the only explanation I could think of, for it could explain why Mapes was trying to kill me back at Armacham Headquarters. If he is ordering these guys to help him, then there's a good chance he was inside the facility as well. Mapes shouted back to the troops over the radio.

"Listen to me, you minimum wage commando! Do not let them through or..." he started to sound nervous. He must be in a hurry to try and get rid of whatever evidence of ATC's involvement as possible. He then said "...Or you're fired! You hear me!" and then signed off.

If they all these guys are stationed here in this building, then the entrance to the facility where Origin took place must be very close. I brought my weapon up and fired at all the soldiers in the next room. Good thing about these guys was that they were a lot easier to hit, due to them not being as hard to kill as the Replicas I've been fighting all day. After wiping out all of them, I went on to the back room to where there seemed to be nothing of importance.

There was a small blue object in the back corner here to where a button was displayed. I pressed the button for a small section of the wall to reveal a control panel behind it. When the panel turned from red to blue, the entire wall next to me opened up to reveal a secret room. It looked like a freaking armory, for their were several weapons stacked up on the wall. I replaced the G2A2 with the RPL submachine gun and stocked up several caches of ammo for it. I also grabbed one of the combat shotguns and stored some more shells onto a bag on my belt for later use. Continuing on down the hall here, there was a monitor station to the right of me with a couple screens. The left one wasn't working, while the right one was for a camera back to where I killed those ATC guards.

Through the door nearby I was now near some old section of this place. A crow flew away from the glass ceiling on top of me as I was walked over to the nearest stairway. I walked up the metal steps to where I was now on the upper floor of this section of the building. A lone door was just a few feet away from the stairs that I then walked over towards. I opened it to I was now in a dark area with only one light functioning into the other small room. As I walked towards it, the light moved to the side as if something had pushed it. I slowly went over to check the room to see that nothing was there. No invisible Assassins, no ATC, nothing. Before I could make sense of it, Douglas Holiday got a hold of HQ over the comlink radio system.

"This is 'Baby Bear.' Medevac just got here." I guess "Baby Bear" was an old nickname he got back in his beginning days of Delta Squad, to where was still called that sometimes by his old teammates. Anyway, at least him and Jin will be safe. Betters then spoke to Holiday.

"Glad to hear it. Thanks for the help."

"Wish I could've done more. Kick some ass." Holiday said disappointingly. Even after everything going on, he was still upset that he didn't get to help me. Him being here definitely would've been nice.

There were some stairs that led up into the attic of this building. Looking around, I saw an old kind of service elevator to the right of this place. I could tell... this was an entrance to that secret facility. It just had to be, I could feel in my bones. Walking over to the machine, I saw that the only switch available was for this thing to go down. Just as I began to press it, a flashing light covered my eyes.

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><p>I was falling. Falling far, far downward a bottomless pit. I did not know if I would land on something, but it seemed to go forever. There were barely some lights down this empty shaft as I continued to descend further down. I saw something red at the very bottom at last... Getting closer and closer, I knew what it was. All of it was blood...<p>

Before I collided with the red liquid, I held my breath for as much as I could possible. I landed into the small lake of blood as my sight made it difficult to figure out where to go. There was an exposed hole at the bottom here I could swim through. As I reached it, I saw someone was looking at me. She looked similar to that little girl, only taller. I couldn't make out what her face looked like, for the dark bangs of her hair covered it completely.

I fell down towards the room below me to see I was back at that building with the flames and the monsters I encountered before. I landed softly onto the ground below as I tried to not throw up from being around all that damn blood. I looked at my body to see that none of it was over my uniform and equipment. Above me only small droplets of the container of blood were coming down, as if something was holding it in place.

I was now back into the hallway where the two doors were at the far end. The corridor leading towards them was still just as long as last time I was here. But just as I began to walk over there, light flashed through my eyes. I was now standing face to face with the two doors in front of me. Looking back, the unusual hall reverted to its original length.

Despite all my instincts me telling me not to keep going, I disobeyed all of them for the sake of knowing more. I had to know why all of this was happening to me. I opened the two doors with my very hands to where I was in another dark corridor.

I remember this one, too... It was where the room was completely covered with blood from the waist-up, just like the first time I was here. There wasn't any here anymore, so it was easier to keep walking forward. The room at the far end showing someone on the other side of the windows for the next set of doors. Passing through the bloody table in the hall, I reached the doors as the cries of a baby were heard. A woman was screaming ahead of me, so loud that my ears were in such deep pain from being near it. She screamed out "No!" as everything faded to darkness.

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><p>For a moment I thought that all of this I was seeing would end. But I was not back to where I was at both at the warehouse or the bloody building. I was now standing in nothing but blackness. The only thing I could see was fire spread out across the "floor." I don't know where I am, or what all of this means. What will happen if I can't leave? Could I leave...? Or...?<p>

There was something coming towards me through the flames. It was another one of those things that takes the form of a person. The only thing I can give a description about is the word "nightmare." That's what these things are. Nightmares.

It was floating towards me with his claws sticking out to try and reach me. I still had my guns in whatever this place was, so I'm sure not going to go out dying like some scared child. I fired several bullets towards this thing as it dispersed into nothing. Two more spontaneously appeared and were now coming closer. Even after firing some more at these "Nightmares", more kept coming.

They are going to kill me unless I keep fighting. Just have to...

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><p>I was no longer back in that other place. I was now standing inside the elevator I intended to take before. Did all of that really happen...? At this point, I can't excuse any of these strange anomalies as some wacky imagination or if I'm some fucking pill. All of that was real...<p>

I pressed the switch on the elevator here as the doors closed inside. The lift was now descending as I began to relax for a bit. After this is all over, I definitely need to talk to Betters or Jin about all that has happened to me. As I was going down, I passed through some kind of room... to see blood splattered all over the place. The little girl in red was inside as she was just staring at me until I could no longer see here. God help me, man... Not long after seeing that, Betters got a hold of me over the radio.

"I want you out of there as soon as you've got Wade and the girl. Get them back to base so I can debrief them in person. Good luck in there..." he told me as he signed off.

At this point, I don't know if I'll be able to have the mental strength to even walk...

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><p>Reviews? Yeah, sure, why not? Haha<p> 


	18. Lapdog

Yeah, forgot that I had this story xD But yeah I just wanted to get this chapter out of the way. Everyone who is reading this just really wants to know how I'm going to do the end of this story. Only way for you to find out is to read and review and wait =P

Have fun and enjoy!

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><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 09 - INCURSION  
><strong>

**LAPDOG  
><strong>

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><p><em><strong>The "Point Man"<strong>_  
>It took several minutes for the elevator to eventually reach the lowest floor of this place. As the doors opened up, I knew that this was not the same building I was at that had the ruined interior. This facility looked a lot like that of Armacham HQ, only more like a facility than bunch of offices. Even though this place must've been built ages ago, it was still in top condition. Many of the boxes and crates here all had Armacham's logo on them. This is the definitely the place. Now I just got to find both Harlan and Alice Wade and get them to safety... and kill Paxton Fettel.<p>

The elevator had started to malfunction as the control panel was then fried. I guess I'm not taking this exit back. Just as I begun to exit the lift, an alarm went off inside here. Looking ahead along the roof north of me, I saw one of those defense turrets similar to ATC's descend from the ceiling. Shit, this place has them too...

I took cover by some supplies to where I was out of the turret's view. I saw it turn left and right, looking for any intruders in this place, in which case, is me. Unlike the others, I was going to have to fight this thing, for it was defending the hallway around the corner behind me. Raising my rifle, I opened fire at the machine as several rounds pierced through its armor. It tried to return fire at me to where I ducked to avoid its assault. We both took turns at each other in small gun battle until I came out the victor by completely blasting it apart. It exploded into a blue cloud as none of it was remaining.

Reloading my G2A2, I walked on over towards the corner to the left of me. I stopped when another one of those turrets were placed over here. If I went this way, this thing would definitely shred me to pieces. And I sure don't have enough ammo to destroy these things and whoever I fight later on. Looking for an alternative path back where I came, I saw a small fence-like door near where the previously destroyed security mechanism was. Shooting the padlock of the handle, I saw that it lead into both a small ventilation system and some pipes that went into the other room. From here, the ventilation only stopped to a dead end by a fan, so I decided to take walk on over the pipes.

The turret was still looking at the corner as I ran through the hallway over here. The only other exit that wasn't blocked off by a security gate was the underfloor below this corridor. I jumped down into there from an exposed opening and slowly walked through the pipes nearby. The path down here was just some more turns until I eventually exited out into a another room with a small ladder. There was a security gate in place to the left of me that I presume just led back into the previous area I was at. The room I was at was some kind of place that forklifts would drive through to drop off some supplies.

I was then being shot at from above on the upper balcony by three ATC security guards. Using my reflexes, I ran backwards to a spot underneath a ledge above me that I could avoid their gunfire. With my reflexes still heightened, I ran back out after they had stop firing to shoot them all through the head with my rifle. Another two came out and tried to stop me, only with them meeting the same end as their comrades. Since these guys are inside this facility, then that fatass Norton Mapes is here too. I'm going to have to hurry and stop them from destroying any more information about their involvement here.

Continuing through the corridor, I ended up into another open area with a few balconies laid out above me. Predictably, some of the security trooper were running towards the railings as they began to draw their weapons at me. What they didn't notice was that there was some gasoline inside a barrel right by them that I soon took advantage of. Quickly, I fired a lone bullet to the container as it exploded into flames. The squad died soon after for the burns were too painful for them to live through. Looking over to the right, I saw a room up ahead behind some thick glass windows to where something was burning in a garbage can. That was when I also saw Mapes standing by a computer. He was talking into what I guessed to be the radio channel this extermination team was using.

"Do something about him!" he yelled out, probably not aware that I just killed some of his lackeys.

He looked over his shoulder to see me standing next to the windows. The look on his face was priceless, for he instantly knew that if I got my hands on him, it wouldn't be pretty. The electrical sliding door leading inside the place was sealed shut, probably by Mapes messing with the control circuits on the other side. Mapes then shouted back onto the radio system saying:

"I'm not finished wiping these drives! I need more time!". Your time was up the moment you decided to fuck with me.

In order to get where he was at, I'm going to have to find another entry point. Moving through the grayish corridors with the pipes along the ceiling, I was standing at the far end of some kind of laboratory. There were five more of those ATC goons stationed on the other side as they were scouting the area. Grabbing my last grenade available, I tossed it as far as I could with my left hand over to where the squad was. Just as they saw the device coming towards them, the explosion went off in mid-air as they were consumed in the blast radius. Another one of their radios was nearby as Mapes heard the explosion go off. Despite his efforts in getting a hold of the squad, he still tried harder to talk to them.

"Come on, it's just one guy!" he said as he sounded in a bigger rush than before. Norton, you'd be surprised at how much I've gotten done in just one day...

Moving through the lab, I tried to see if there was some kind of way to leave this place. Only thing I found of any worth value was just some ammo for the G2A2 and some spare grenades on a table. Picking those up, I then saw a laptop on the counter with some Armacham files on the screen. This must have been information Mapes and his crew haven't gotten around to erasing yet. I should send this to Betters now while I still have the chance. Mailing the information to him, Betters soon contacted me.

"More info on Origin. The genetic reference they used for the program was apparently a powerful psychic. Makes sense. If you want a telepathic commander, you need a telepath. And it was a woman. Says here she gave live birth to the prototypes. Seems Wade wasn't convinced the psychic characteristics were genetic. He figured there was a better chance they'd be passed along if the fetus gestated inside the subject. So they put her in a coma, made her carry a genetically engineered baby to term, then induced labor. That's pretty fucking sick..." Betters said, with that last part spoken in an disgusted manner.

My God... How would somebody even do that to someone like that, especially a woman? My anger towards these people grew stronger than it was before. They used that woman for their own fucking little experiments just to make some psychic prototypes. No wonder Aristide and Mapes wanted to "clean up" this place. There are so many illegal activities conducted here that the entire company would be destroyed if this were to reach the light of day. If I can collect more evidence on Armacham's wrongdoings, they will eventually burn for this...

Behind some big hard drives in the corner of this lab was a red ladder that led up on top of the pipes along the ceiling. If I can move on through these, then I can probably find an exit out of this room. Walking along the pipes slowly in case if any were to break, I continued through until I saw a small opening below me to the east. Dropping down, I was now inside the room to where I last saw Mapes. He was long gone, and the information on the computer he was on was completely trashed.

With no way to collect the data, I went up the small steps near this desk to where a monitor screen was placed on the wall. The image of Armacham was replaced by a live feed of someone looking at the screen. It was Harlan Wade, and it seemed like he was talking to me. Don't know why, but he still looked so familiar to me... The way he was talking implied that he thought Mapes was still in this room, for he said:

"Norton, do you really think you can get rid of the evidence by shredding documents and wiping hard drives? Genevieve Aristide dug her own grave, and she's going to have to make herself comfortable in it. Don't be a fucking lapdog and jump in after her."

I kind of wondered a bit what it is Harlan was doing here anyway. Does he not realize that Fettel has his daughter? And if Harlan isn't sided with Norton or Genevieve or ATC, then what is it he's got planned down here? I'll have to get the answers out of him in person, if I can find him. And definitely before Fettel gets to him first.

I took the stairs nearby to the upper floor where the windows overlooked the previous room. Two of those ATC goons turned around the corner and saw me. Before they could do anything I rammed into first one and tossed towards the ground. I then stood before the other soldier and punched them across the face so hard that it broke his jaw. As the other one tried to get back on his feet, I stomped his face with my boot as it broke his nose. He was screaming out in pain until I did it again to kill him.

Continuing through the hallways here, I know appeared to be above on the balcony to where I first encountered the guards. There was one more still standing nearby, for he probably intended to sneak up on me. I shot him at point-blank range with my shotgun that I pulled out from my back as his chest was blown open, blood splattered everywhere. Moving on, I went towards another corridor to where there was another room to the right of some thick glass. Before I entered the place, I saw another defense turret descend from the ceiling. If I went in now, it would mean certain death. I'll have to find another way through...

There was some pipes near the entrance to where I could climb on top of that would lead somewhere. After eventually moving on through, I found a small opening that led to another room. Carefully hopping down below, I saw two of those security troopers running away from a yellow pipe. One of them shouted out "It's gonna blow!" as the pipe then exploded. Fire consumed the middle section of the hallway, preventing me from going that way. I guess this is their idea of slowing me down. Well not for long, you bastards.

There was another room to the left I could enter that led back out the other side of the hallway the previous one led to. As I entered the small laboratory here, another defense mechanism was deployed as it lowered itself. Taking cover by a white desk, I saw it patrol the area as it moved horizontally back and forth. The door that led into the next hallway was right by where this turret was, which leaves me no choice but to destroy this thing. A fierce gun battle ensued as both me and the turret exchanged bullets until I managed to blow the mechanism apart. After it was taken care of, I went out through the electrical sliding door onto the corridor. To the left was a larger room with some more balconies layered out all around this place.

The squad that caused the explosion earlier were still here as two of them were on ground level. They were close enough for me to blast apart with my shotgun as both of them were soon killed. To the balcony above me after I came out into the room were three more ATC security guards as they were about to shoot me soon. Like before, their mistake was being too close to some gasoline barrels. Shooting the canisters, the explosion went off as the three of them were all killed from being burned alive. As I was about to approach the stairs near some machinery that went up, I saw Norton Mapes cowering in fear behind some tough glass. He shouted out "He's coming! What good are you jackoffs!" as a look of fear was plastered all over his face.

"Forget this, the Vault is open. Let's finish what we came for." as he was saying, he was running away down the corridor behind him as fast as he could. There are only so many places for you to go, Norton. I promise that wherever you will be, I won't be far behind.

Climbing up the stairs, I went around the balcony nearby to where another huge laboratory was. 4 more of those ATC guys were running inside this place from another entryway as they were getting ready to assume battle positions. Before they could set up a defensive perimeter, I opened fire with my G2A2 towards the squadron ahead. Two of them were easily disposed of, while the other two took cover behind some of the walls near the desks. As they were attempting to shoot me back, I hid behind some cover of my own near some crates. The soldiers were getting desperate as they were beginning to panic seeing me get closer and closer from each burst of bullets.

By the time I had gotten close enough to corner them, I pulled back out my shotgun after holstering the rifle. Bringing it towards them as I got closer, I blasted them both with a few shells towards their chest and heads. After they were both killed, I looked around to see where it was that they came from. There was some small stairs that lead down to a dark hallway. By the machinery, there were two of those soldiers positioned down there as they began to shoot towards where I am.

I ran back up the stairs while contemplating how to dispose of the guards. Taking out a grenade, I threw it over to the wall nearby where they were. And just like how good old physics should work, it bounced off the wall and flew on over towards the soldiers. The explosion went off as the two of them down below screamed out in agony. Looking back down, I waited for the smoke to settle off to see their bodies laid out all across the ground. Going back down, I went through a couple more corridors and saw that I passed the last spot I saw Mapes run off. Hopefully he was close for me to catch him.

Turning the next corner, there were 4 more soldiers coming towards me as they were surprised to see me. Using my shotgun, I fired the remaining shells inside to each of them until they were all dead. Reloading 12 more shells into the Vokkler, I went past some white crates to where to the far left was a hallway I could take. As I was going down there, some security gates came down and blocked the entrance for the next hallway. These guys must be trying every trick possible to block my progress.

Going to the next hallway left of me, I then saw some more of ATC security running off to the next hallway. As I tried to follow them, one of them shouted "Secure that exit!" as another security gate came down from the ceiling. At this rate, I'm going to be stuck in this damn place. There was small office to the left of me where some supercomputer hard drives were laid out by the wall.

A desk inside had another computer with some documents displayed, saying something about that "synchronicity event" I heard about before from those phone messages left by Chuck Habegger and Marshell Disler.. Figuring them to be important, I mailed the information to HQ. Betters then got a hold of me shortly after.

"I figured out what a 'synchronicity event' is. There was an incident where they lost control of Fettel. He just suddenly started freaking out. He was only about 10 years old at the time, but I guess he killed a few people. In the investigation, they discovered that there had been a telepathic link between Fettel and Alma, even though she was in a coma. They concluded that she was influencing him. That must have been why they pulled the plug on Origin."

Alma... I remember the name. Bill Moody mentioned shortly before he died back at the Treatment Plant. He was saying something about how if Fettel found her and also Origin. So Alma was the name of the woman used to give birth to Fettel then? And if she is such a powerful psychic and Fettel inherited her capabilities, then she could've been the one responsible for him to start this revolt. That also means that even though she was miles and miles away from him and all the way underground, she can still continue to speak to him.

Then I thought about how much of this was really caused by Fettel or how much of it happened because of Alma. Paxton could just be a puppet for this psychic to exact her revenge towards those who committed those horrible experiments on her. But if she is responsible for all this, then who is the little girl I keep seeing? What role does she play into all of this? Right now, I was beginning to find answers for what was going on, but this puzzle still isn't finished. I have to keep on pushing through to the source until I get the answers I seek.

There was a red ladder nearby that I think led to some kind of basement. Climbing down there, I saw that know I was in some kind of advanced piping system. They were huge, some attached to the ceiling or walls. The walls were all of a silver tone, the lights inside working while others were not. I noticed on the metal pathway nearby was some proximity mines laid out. The troopers here must've put these here to stop me from getting out of this place. Using my pistol, I only fired a single shot towards one of the mines as an explosion went off. With the path clear of explosives, I turned around the next corner to see 3 of those guys entering this place. They must be trying to check if the blast got me or not.

I killed each one of them by using my AT-14 handgun and shooting each of them in the head. These guys never stood a chance. Moving past their dead bodies, I crouched under a large pipe in the upper section of the next room and walked up to a locked fence door. Shooting the lock off, I opened it and walked through a tight corridor leading down to where the next corner took me to a long tunnel. A giant pipe extended from one of this tunnel to the other, with a side pipe preventing me from going any further in this dark tunnel.

I turned left into a smaller corner to where a large section of this area was. Some more mines were set in my path, so I blew those up by shooting them from here. The explosion caused by the mines blew off the valve off some flammable ventilations, causing fire to spew out from the pipes. Passing through to the next area, there was another room similar to the previous with another large pipe sticking out on the upper half of this place. Two of ATC security guards were standing next to some barrels, unaware that I was watching them from here. Crouching down, I disposed of the two soldiers with a few bullets to the neck and face as their bodies fell to the ground. There shouldn't be any more of these guys left, considering that from outside there weren't many vehicles to take any more of them.

After I reloaded my handgun, I went under the giant pipe along the room and entered an area with some stairs to the far left. Taking those up, there was a metal red ladder on top of a ledge that went up. Climbing up the long ladder, I reached the top to where I appeared to be back up to where I previously was in the upper floor. Looking around the area, I saw I was now on the other side of those locked gates I couldn't go through before. To my bad luck, there were even more placed out here blocking my route.

I then noticed some ventilations behind a pipe along the wall. If I take this, I could find another detour out of this place. Squeezing through the thick pipe, I crawled through the tight ventilation systems until i found an exit alongside the left side. The yellow made it easier to see down the shaft in front of me. Below was a back room of some kind I could drop down by jumping onto each of the extended vents.

After I reached the bottom, I saw a path available through the vents ahead. God knows where they lead...

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><p>Reviews pretty please? I'll be your best friend!<p> 


	19. Bypass

GOOD NEWS! All caps aside, the good news is that there are only three chapters left after this one. So this story will be hitting the wraps soon, so I am really thankful for everyone being nice enough to say how much they like this story. Sure, it's just someone telling the same story as a video game, but it's fun right! :D

Let's rock!

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><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 09 - INCURSION  
><strong>

**BYPASS  
><strong>

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><p><strong>The "Point Man"<strong>  
>I crawled on through the dark ventilation systems for a bit until I stopped in front of thick cover in place. Punching off, I then jumped down in the room nearby. It looked like just another storage room, but what really peeked my curiosity was outside these big windows. There was a long walkway down below that reached over to something extremely advanced, almost looking like a giant security door that was partially opened.. The area was in a large open shaft, about as wide as an entire football field. This place was a marvel of a sight, almost like something you would see in some science fiction movie.<p>

Down by the walkway, I saw two figures standing next to each other by the large door. The screen next to me showed me a close-up of the situation below which I'm guessing the camera was by the door. Despite the awful amount of static interference, I could make out who they were. One of them was Norton Mapes with his hands held up, and the other person was Harlan Wade pointing a gun at Mapes. I could hear Mapes through the live feed, talking to Harlan.

"Look, I'm just doing my job!" Mapes told him, a bit worried from the sound of his voice.

"And I'm doing what has to be done."

After Harlan said, he pointed the weapon to Norton's chest and then shot him. Mapes fell over on the ground behind near the railing as Harlan began to walk away. Looking back out the window, I saw Harlan enter the large room beyond the security doors - which I assumed is the Vault door - the entire thing closing behind him. Great, Mapes is dead and Harlan has run off somewhere. I just know that I have to go down there, I just know it.

I exited this place as I passed through electrical doors, sets of stairs leading down, and some generators until I was now by the walkway I saw earlier. To the left was several high-tech machinery in place, but I ignored all that to try and reach over to where the large door was. As I walked over there, I saw that despite the a bullet went through his chest, Mapes was still alive, even if he was breathing heavily.

"That fuckhead... He locked you out..." he said, with some trouble speaking.

I looked over at the control panel next to me to see that the entire system was indeed locked out. I'm going to have to find out how to get this thing to work.

"The only way in... is to divert power to the door..." Mapes told me. He was in a quite a bit of pain, for he tried to find a comfortable way to ease the pain. God knows how long this guy will last.

I knew that the area to the far left would probably take me to where the switches for the Vault door would be. Leaving Mapes behind, I went back over there to where I saw one electrical door in place. However, all it lead to was some steps by a small lift that I couldn't access from here. Heading back, I went through the large area with gigantic pipes and machinery placed on top of me. There were two ladders to the side that led below this path. Climbing down the right one, I passed the sliding door here and entered another unusual looking area.

There were some more pipes connected from the ceiling leading to the floor that took up most of the space here. There was a metal walkway to the right of me that went over to the next room across from this spot. As I was beginning to walk over there, some Replica soldiers were beginning to scout the area. These were the Replica Elites, and they were all packed up with HV Penetrators or shotguns. Still, better than a big ass cannon blasting me.

Taking a spare proximity mine out of my pockets, I placed it near the entry of the walkway, but was able to hide it just enough for them not to notice. Heading back to the entrance of this place, I waited a few seconds to when the explosion went off. Trying my best to look through the smoke, I saw that three of them were dead, but the last one running away towards some cover. I followed the lone Replica to where he was now hiding by some wooden crates. Taking out my shotgun, I ran up to the guy and blasted him square across the chest several times until he died.

Continuing on, I saw that there were some electrical double doors along the wall to the right. The control panel near the doors looked like there was no power over in this section, so I'll have to look for another way around. Moving through the corridor along the left side of this place, I ended up in another area to where two paths branched off left and right. There was a large drop near the railings by the two exits to where I couldn't see the bottom, probably meant for disposal of trash and other things.

I went to the left path and reached some kind of area that amazed me. To the right of me was a large mechanical device several feet long attached to a section of the wall. The attachment was on a black, square shaped outlet for the power in this place. Another one was above the mechanical arm-shaped mechanism, probably to reroute the power from one end to another. Could this be what Mapes meant by diverted power back towards the Vault door?

A control panel by the railing was in place that said "activate" on the screen. Pressing the switch, I saw the arm-like machine detach itself from the wall. The diamond-shaped rings across the mechanism went back as the device then attached itself to the upper power outlet. As the rings then went towards the wall, I saw a small set of arrows on the panel light up. There were 6 of them total, 2 of them yellow, blue, and red each. It probably means I'll have to do this 5 more times to get the power rerouted to the Vault door.

The other mechanism to change the power flow was on the other side of here, only I couldn't get over there. I bet that if I took the right path I didn't enter earlier, it would lead me over to there. Heading back the way I came, I entered the right path along the railing and then reached on over to the other side of the previous room. The control panel was on a ledge above me, so I climbed up using a small ladder to the device. As before, I pressed "activate" on the switch and saw the other mechanism detach itself from the lower outlet and then attached to the upper one. With that taken care, I'll just have to figure out where to find the others.

Heading back all the way to where I faced off the Replica squad, I saw that the two double doors were now open. Looking at the panel near them, I saw that power also went towards this previously locked set of doors, thus opening them. Good to know.

Heading along through the corridors, I passed about a couple rooms until a red ladder was placed along the wall. Climbing up the metal bars, I walked through the area some more to where I was on an upper walkway above the path with the two entrances to that generator room I was at. Passing through the area, I heard some footsteps above in the next room on another metal walkway. Peeking out, I saw one Replica pacing around while two more were standing over by some crates. Here we go...

I opened fire from the Vokkler shotgun to the soldier above me as he was blown over the railing. As they heard the gunfire behind me, they tried to turn around to see who it was when I got up close and personal with them. Blasting them apart with the leftover shells in my shotgun, their bodies were flown backwards as they died. There was an HV Penetrator and some ammo in the corner over by where the two soldiers were standing. Leaving behind the almost empty shotgun, I picked that up and looked for a way out of here.

There were some stairs near that led up to the walkway where that first soldier was. Going up that path, I stopped to see that there were some big pipes extend from one section of the area all the way over to the other. Underneath the path was somewhere I could crawl through to reach an exposed area that looked like it leads to a vent holder. Before I did that, there was a laptop activated on top of a wooden crate. Not sure if the Replicas or ATC meant to get to it, but there were some important information available on-screen. Sending it to HQ, Betters got on the radio channel and told me:

"Things are starting to make sense. The name of the woman they used for Origin is 'Alma.' That's who Fettel is looking for. He's going home..." Betters told me, my thoughts then put back to earlier.

Just like I guessed, there was a connection between Fettel and Alma. Then that woman is indeed the source behind all this crazy shit going on today. This entire terrorist assault wasn't just to get revenge or to just kill thousands of people. Fettel wants a reunion... a reunion with his mother.

Putting aside my thoughts of what I just learned, I crawled through the small opening underneath the large pipes. Making my way over to the ventilation cover, I kicked it down and then crawled inside the cold, gray interior. After a few moments of moving through the vents, I found an exit that was next to some steps. Kicking open the other holder, I was now near some supplies and generator equipment for this place. There was an electrical door on the upper level I then took to reach another walkway.

This path was several feet above the area I first came to after hearing from Mapes on how to open the Vault door. Doesn't even feel that long ago since it happened. Passing through another door, I went through some more rooms until I found another mechanical door. As it slid open, the next area I was at a large generator room. Two big machines were laid out in the middle of this wide, open area. From here, I was on another pathway about 15 feet above the ground. Oh yeah, and generators weren't the only thing in this place.

Five of those Replica Elites were all scattered about on the ground here. Two of them with Repeating Cannons, and the other three with simple assault rifles. The closest ones were one of each of the two weapons. Aiming my HV carefully, the accurate weapon was able to fire enough nails into the backs of the 2 soldiers down below. With them dead, the other three then tried to figure out where the nails came from. This luckily gave me an opportunity to fire several more into the others as I picked them of one by one. Even if these guys are more armored and better equipped than the previous Replicas, the shots from the Penetrator were still strong enough to rip through them like tissue paper.

The door at the far end of this walkway was broken down, so I had to look for another way down this place. There were some boxes stacked up that I could jump on top without breaking my legs. Carefully going over the railing, I landed safely on the boxes and then jumped down to the ground. Moving through the area, I saw that on an upper ledge were another set of locked double doors that required some power rerouted to open them up. Guess I'll have to look for conductors in this place.

There was a path underneath in the middle of the two generators I could probably take to get to the switches of the power. After descending more and more through some steps, I then reached another one of those control panels for those mechanical arm-like connectors. Pressing "activate" on the panel caused this one to move from one power outlet to another as a light went off over one of the yellow arrows on the panel. The other mechanism for the second power connector was just below this ledge. Hopping over the railing, I pressed "activate" on the panel as this one was beginning to move on over to the other outlet. An alarm then went off over the area.

I saw that there was a white crate hanging off over to where the power outlet was, preventing this mechanism to attach itself on over to there. As the machine was going back to where it originally was placed, I saw there was a ladder leading down to a lower ledge that some stairs were nearby. If I took these steps, it would take all around to another ladder to where the switch for the crane was, so that I can move the container out of the way. Before the ladder was another crate with a single laptop opened up on top of it. It had some information about Alma, but no pictures of her. After sending it to F.E.A.R. headquarters, Betters came back on the radio with terrible news.

"Oh, Jesus... She was just a kid. Says here Alma was 8 years old when Origin started up. They used a little girl... No wonder they're so fucking anxious to keep the lid on this mess. Somebody's gonna burn for this."

Oh man... that poor kid. Another revelation came to me. That 8-year old girl I keep seeing... she must've been the past version of what Alma is today. She must be using that form to project herself outside the Vault to both me and Fettel as a way of communicating with us. To Fettel, I can understand that his motive is to find her. As for me, I have no idea. What really upset me was how those bastards could use a child to force making psychic commanders, put her in a coma, and then lock the place afterward. Betters then explained to me about that Genevieve woman.

"That's why Aristide hasn't returned my calls. She's probably on a plane to Jamaica." he said as he then went offline the comlink.

From what I could figure of that woman, it sounds just like her to try and snivel her way out of this whole mess. Makes sense as to why she was nowhere around Armacham when the whole situation blew up, probably the same for Harlan. They don't want this crisis to be known to the public, but it was too late now. We are going to expose those motherfuckers for the monsters they are. They'll all pay for this...

Going up the ladder, I saw a control panel on the railing here. Pressing the switch on here, the crane holding the container moved on out of the way of the path the arm-like machinery is supposed to go. Heading back the way I came up towards the other panel, I pressed the switch for the mechanism to go towards the next power outlet. After it soon attached itself over there, another light came on as all arrow symbols in blue were lit up. Hopefully, that means power made it over to those locked doors I passed before. Now I just got to figure out how to get all the way back there.

There was a door over by those steps I used before that was previously locked until the power being rerouted opened it up. I went through the area after passing some corners until I was on a ledge above the path leading up to that first control panel. Jumping over to there, I went all the way back out to that large generator room to where I fought that last squad of Replicas. I walked through the area until I reached up towards the two doors previously sealed doors as they were now open. Entering the next room, I heard some unusual activity around the next corner.

Looking over there, there were three of those floating mechanical weapons with the lasers placed under them. Seems like Armacham had more of these built and placed all the way over here ages ago. Amazing they were able to have design specs and the means to build them back then. Seeing as how I have the Penetrator still, the nails will surely be able to pierce through their thick armor. Using my reflexes, I quickly opened fire at all three machines. It only needed about a few nails each to destroy all of them as they self-destructed from taking too much damage. Like before, it must mean that any parts left behind won't be used by any intruders looking to use what would be left.

Continuing further down another walkway, I walked around some more hallways to when I saw something outside of some thick glass. It was a huge type of machine, like some kind of cylinder stretching horizontally across from one wall to another. I could hear some electricity flowing through inside of it, even from here. My gut tells me that the final steps to connect power all the way over to the Vault door was definitely over there, for there were a couple more control panels nearby.

Moving through several small rooms and steps, I was now in a corridor with a room nearby I could see through the windows. There were some kind of round cylinders moving on some kind of conveyor system circling around. They probably were meant to be used to hold materials while shipping them off to other employees, for there was a hole underneath them to where someone could grab them. The door nearby was locked in place, so there was no way for me to get inside. This path led to a dead end for it just showed the large power generator through some more windows. Looking back, I saw a ventilation cover on the wall. Maybe I can get somewhere through there.

Kicking it down, I crawled through the smelly vent system until I found an exit up ahead. Knocking it down, I saw I was now inside that room with the rotating canisters. The one on the right had a few empty slots that I can probably use to reach the lower room. Maybe there is another path below that can lead me to that large area. After doing that, I dropped below into a small room and saw some steps nearby. Using those, I was now on the other side of a working sliding door that I passed through to reach the generator room.

As I pressed "activate" on the nearby panel next to the large machine, the middle section of this huge cylinder spread apart. There were some poles with a lot of energy moving around inside them, while some others were out of place. I bet that if I can find a way to the upper panel on a balcony above me, I can then align the poles to their proper place. There was a hallway downstairs I walked towards that led me around a couple corners. Passing one of them, I was near a desk where a single phone and answering machine were at. There were two messages left behind on the machine, both by Genevieve Aristide. Pressing "play", I listened to the first voicemail to see what she had to say.

"Harlan, it's Genevieve. I understand your feelings, I really do. But this is no time for sentimentality. If Origin is uncovered, every single one of us will burn for it. It's time we buried the dead, don't you think?" she said. With her tone, it was hard to take her seriously about her "making up" any problems between her and Wade. I then listened to her next message afterwards.

"Harlan, it's me again. If you want an apology, then I apologize. I was wrong, you were right. In any case, I want to be sympathetic, but the situation is urgent. I'm sending Mapes to take care of things, since you seem reluctant to do what needs to be done. I hope you can find it in yourself to assist him." Aristide finished. Oh yeah, he sure helped Norton a lot.A bullet to the chest is a great way of showing it.

I climbed up on a red ladder nearby to the upper floor as I continued my way out of here. Making my way through the dark corridors, I saw the balcony to where the final panel for the power was. After I pressed the switch, the poles for the energy storage circled around several times as each one of them were properly aligned in place. When they were all taken care of, the middle section of the power generator then closed. Seeing as how all the power was finally rerouted, it was time to head on back to the Vault and track down Harlan.

The electrical double doors to the left of me were now opened as they must've been previously locked from the energy being in the wrong place. I went through there and up some steps to where I saw two Replica Elites stationed near some items. They had just seen me enter the area as I came in guns blazing with my assault rifle. I fired every round of my weapon into both of them while using my superior speed to avoid getting shot at. After they were dead, I reloaded my weapon and walked over to where a small lift was. This was definitely the same one I had seen earlier but couldn't take. Guess this means I have a shortcut back to where the Vault was. As I activated the switch and the lift was going down, Betters got a hold of me once more.

"Alma's still in there. She has to be. You've got to find her before ATC decides to get rid of the evidence." he said and then signed off.

Several questions erupted into my head. Just what am I going to do when I do find her? Take care of any Replica or Armacham forces that come my way and wait for F.E.A.R. to provide evidence? Is Alma going to mess with my head some more if I get closer to her presence? I know that I still have to kill Paxton Fettel to stop the Replica Army, but what will happen after that? Maybe I'll find out when I get there, who knows.

When I reached the lower floor, I walked on over to the sliding door. Just as it opened, I saw both Alice Wade and Fettel walking slowly towards the Vault. Before I could say or do anything, they both disappeared before me as they were soon gone. If this is supposed to mean what I think it means, then Fettel and Alice might be down inside the Vault already. I'll have to hurry to catch up with them both.

As I was rushing over to where Mapes and the entrance was, I saw three more of those floating defense mechanisms come up from this large shaft. Before I could let them get a lock-on to my position, I went back towards the biggest cover spot I could find while firing several rounds over to them. One of them was severely damaged, with the other two firing multiple lasers towards the last spot I was. Bringing out the Penetrator once more, I fired a single nail over to the damaged aerial device as it soon exploded.

The other two still remaining where still firing more lasers to my position, making it difficult to head back out to fire at them. After they soon stopped, I could hear them coming closer to get a better shot at me. Taking their brief pause of fire to my advantage, I brought my weapon back out and fired several more nails towards them. Luckily, I was able to make the shots connect as the two of them were soon destroyed from taking too much damage. Reloading the HV Penetrator, I walked on over to where the entrance of the Vault was with Mapes still on the ground.

He was surprisingly still alive, even though a good amount of blood was spilt onto the walkway. Funny enough, the only time I leave him alone to do something important, he's dying on the floor. Despite what he had done earlier, he was still trying to speak to me as though asking for my assistance.

"You have to destroy this facility... before he lets her out..." Like hell I'm going to do that. I'm going to stop both Fettel and Wade from releasing her and raising Hell. Mapes looked at me and then said:

"There are four pylons... Damage the reactor cells and you'll trigger a chain reaction... Blow the whole place to Hell... where it belongs." It won't come to that, Norton. I will stop this madness.

"If he lets Alma out..." There was now worry in his voice. Maybe he, too, understands the magnitude of the problems that would occur if this gets out of hand more.

"You have to stop him..." he finished as he was about ready to pass out. Whether he'll live or not is something I can't decide.

I went over to the control panel opposite of Mapes and saw that the power was indeed rerouted over to here. I pressed "activate" on the switch here as the Vault door began to open. Inside of here was a large lift just a few feet away from my position. I entered inside to see a switch on the elevator available for use. Looking down the large shaft down below, it was too dark to make out just how far this thing goes underground. Only way to find out is go down there anyway. After I pressed the switch, the lift was beginning to descend down below. Betters contacted me one more time.

"I'm losing your signal. We may be out of contact from here on. Be careful of this Wade guy. God only knows what he's capable of." I'll keep that in mind, buddy.

Almost as if descending towards the very bottom of Hell itself, I waited to reach the bottom. They would all be there. Harlan and his daughter Alice. Paxton Fettel, and his mother, the origin of this crisis. Alma...

* * *

><p>You KNOW what the next chapter will be. I'll try my very best not to disappoint with the best of my abilities. Reviews would be appreciated, just so I can hear any feedback from you guys!<p> 


	20. The Vault

Ok, everyone. This is the chapter that you've been waiting for. I'm not going to brag or anything like that. But I will say, it was very exciting doing this chapter in particular. Hopefully I did a good enough job.

=)

* * *

><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 10 - REVELATION  
><strong>

**THE VAULT  
><strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>The "Point Man"<strong>_  
>The lift was finally reaching its stop as I was now approaching an extremely large area. What I saw was amazing. There was some kind of enormous sphere placed into the middle, attached by several pillars all throughout the area holding it up. A yellow light was emitting from the center of this thing, but hard to tell what it was for. The entire sphere was consumed with some type of energy field, with the field rotating all across the object. I could feel something inside of that thing, my gut telling me what it was for... It was Alma's coffin.<p>

"Release sequence initiated." was said by a robotic female voice coming from a control room to the upper-right of this place. I could see Harlan Wade standing by a glass window in the room as he was just staring at the large sphere. Just what is he planning?

There was a small ledge near some double doors that just opened I can take. There was also another ledge across from here with a small lift that I could take up. If I go that way, then I can reach Harlan and stop him doing whatever it is he intends. As I was moving through the next hallway, I could see about 3 Replica Elites with Repeating Cannons rushing off down another hall beyond some windows. I guess I'm going to have another epic fight on my hands. Moving on through, I saw a trail of blood leading off down the next room. What I saw horrified me.

Paxton Fettel was crouching down over a lone body on the floor. Blood was splattered everywhere as from here I tried to make out what he was doing. Then I saw Alice Wade's body laid out on the floor as her face was stuck in an horrified expression. That bastard was fucking eating her! And this time I knew it was not an hallucination. This time she was really dead. I failed her...

A flash of white came before my eyes for a second. I wasn't sure what was happening, but something... powerful, was coming. The 8 year-old girl - the child form of Alma - walked through the wall near Fettel. She was walking towards him, whispering something to him. At the same time, I felt like she was also whispering to me as well. Fettel turned to look at her as my sight was once again consumed by light. The last thing I could make out was what Alma had said.

"Kill them all."

* * *

><p>I was no longer back at the facility. Instead, I was surrounded by intense fires spread out as my only source of light while consumed in almost complete darkness. I looked at myself to see that all of my weapons were gone. All my explosives, my rifle, everything. Everything, except for my AT-14 handgun. Pulling it out, I braced myself for whatever could possibly attack me in this place. Fettel's voice rang clear into my head.<p>

"You still don't know, do you? What you are. Why you are here."

What on earth does he mean by that? I looked around to finally see him standing amongst the fire. With fresh blood covering his mouth and chest, he was staring at me with those blank eyes. Even though it was hard to see here due to the smoke, I could make across that horrific grin on his face. I know what he's trying to do. He's trying to psyche me out for he knows I'm going to kill him. I brought my pistol to his chest and planned on ending this fucking madness. Everything turned to white again.

Fettel was now gone, and I was still in this place. From where he was standing, two of those "Nightmares" I had encountered before were floating towards me. Like before, these things would kill me if they got closer. I fired only two shots from my gun to each of the two monstrosities as they withered away from the bullets making contact. My chest was racing, my breathing heavy, my heart pounding louder and louder. My arms were shaking, my eyes burning, my feet frozen in place. I have never before felt like this. I looked around to spot Fettel once again standing by the fire. Before I raised my weapon to him again, he spoke to me. Hearing what he said made my mind freeze.

"What's the first thing you remember? What's your given name? Where were you born? You have no history."

I know who I am! I'm a member of F.E.A.R., First Encounter Assault Recon! I've been working with the military my whole life! I have plenty of friends... Jin, Spencer, Betters, and Holiday... The reason I'm on this damn mission was to kill Paxton Fettel. It's all because of him that my nightmares haunt me during the day! It was cause of him all of this happened! I know who I am! My name is...

My name...

...

...

...What is my name?

I don't know. I can't remember my birth town. I can't recall my age. All of my memories involving my childhood were gone. When I think of parents, there are no faces. No happy times, no adult figure watching over me. No one to tell me right from wrong. No memories of school or relationships. No friends or teachers to guide me. There was nothing. Nothing at all... Then who am I?

This has to be a trick! Fettel is using his powers to mess with my mind! He is sending these monsters towards me as a way to lose my train of thought. He won't stop me. He doesn't know anything! I don't need an identity to kill him! Or do I...? My head hurts... My chest is in pain... My limbs are cold... Is this real? Do I exist...? Is what I'm feeling true? Could Fettel be right...? I... I...

Two more of those Nightmares were coming towards me. My body reacted on its own, firing a few more bullets over to where they were coming from. Fettel had disappeared again. Where is he...?

Looking around this place, I saw him far away from where I was standing. I need answers... I need fucking answers! Who is he! Why is this happening! I walked closer to him, seeing that damn smile spread across his face. He opened his mouth... 9 words... All he said was 9 words. Those 9 words were what finally made me realize my involvement of everything that is happening.

"You and I were born from the same mother."

Mother...? Then that must mean...

Alma is my mother.

That little girl I've been seeing all day is the form of my mother when she was a child. That explains it. Why she came to me, to see me, to say those cryptic clues... She was trying to talk to her son. I'm her son. And if Fettel is her child too, then we're...

Brothers.

That's what it was. We're brothers. Bound by blood from a woman with limitless psychic potential. When Betters had told me about two prototypes created from that Origin project, and how Fettel was the 2nd one... that meant I am the first prototype. That's why I can see all these strange things. Why I'm still alive from Alma's powers and why I still live. She wanted to let me know who I am. I'm her son...

More of those Nightmares were advancing towards me. They were going to kill me unless I did something. I fired several more bullets to them as they too were destroyed. Fettel was once again gone. I saw him again through the fire. Instead of aiming my weapon at him, I walked slowly to where he was. His smile was gone. He looked at me with a serious face as he spoke once again.

"You must have sensed it. She cannot see in your mind, but perhaps you can see into hers. A life of waking from one nightmare, only to find herself deep in another."

That was what those places were. They weren't just rooms she made up to intimidate me. Those places... the place with the baby screaming... they were from her memories. Then the baby must've been me. I was looking into the dark portions of her mind to when she gave birth to me... It hit me. These heightened reflexes I have, which make me faster than everyone else... Was it because I received them due to Alma's psychic influence? Is that why I feel different from everyone else? Could it be...?

Looking back at Fettel, he still held his serious demeanor. The fresh blood over his body finally made me realize why it was he ate people. As a psychic, he would have no need for nourishment over the flesh of people. Instead, he obtains their memories of their lives. That was why he attacked Armacham. To consume the knowledge of their terrible actions to find out where Alma was. He wants to release her, to spare her the pain of being trapped in some dark container to where she is neither living nor dead.

Another flash of light consumed us both. We were no longer back at the darkness covered in flames.

* * *

><p>Fettel has now brought me into some kind of small room. He was kneeling down in the middle, as he stared me down with those soulless eyes. We were in some kind of cell, with a lone bed placed along the wall behind him. Fire was outside his windows and also behind the door to this place. Could this place be where he was locked up before...? I looked back at my "brother" as he said one last thing before he went to silence.<p>

"I will set her free."

I know what he wants. He wants me to help him do it. He wants us to be there to release Alma. And for a simple moment in my life... I wanted to. I wanted to help my mother by ending her pain. I wanted to have a real connection with her, not something that I will ever forget. I want a life that is not stuck in confusion to where I can't tell the difference between reality or an illusion. But...

She will kill everyone. She wants revenge on Armacham for what they've done, and I do not blame her. But I know deep down, she won't stop there. If she is released, she will murder every single human being nearby, to let out her anger on innocent people. After seeing her bloody, cold-hearted murder of my previous Delta squads members, my friend Jankowski, and God knows how many people by the Replica soldiers by telling Fettel to activate them... I can't do that. I won't allow myself to let her continue her path of vengeance by taking away lives. And I know that Fettel will support her every step of the way, to be there for our abandoned mother. They won't stop... which is why I have to kill them.

My family must die for the world to live.

I raised the gun to Fettel's head. He did nothing to stop me. Only stare at me. If I could guess what was going on his mind, he probably thinks I won't do it. After everything that's been said and done, he still expects me to be with him. To help him and Alma continue their destruction. I... I...

Can I do it? Can I kill my own brother? My younger brother? He's killed so many people today. Habegger, Moody, Hives, scientists and employees, people who didn't deserve such a fate. He's killed Alice... the woman who I swore to myself I would protect but failed.

My body was hollow. There were no emotions in my next action. My mind did not nothing to propel my finger to pull the trigger. Blood splatters across my face.

* * *

><p>Paxton Fettel is now dead. His body limped back over near where Alice's body was laid out. This time it was real. It was not another illusion cast on me to deceive my actions. My brother is now finally dead, his eyes still open. Even in death, his face still haunted me. I killed him. I stopped this madness with the Replica's. I stopped him from releasing Alma and yet... I felt nothing. No anger, no sadness, no joy. Nothing. Except for one thing...<p>

Guilt.

How much of his actions were his own or how much of it was from our mother, I will never know. There were still more things I have to do here. Whatever Harlan is up to, I know that it will not lead to anything good. He probably plans on using Alma as a catalyst to continue where Armacham left off. Maybe he wants to restart "Origin" again. I have to reach him before it is too late.

I would've thought that walking away from the bodies of both Alice and Fettel would make it easier. Instead, I still felt nothing. Before this mission exploded into something I couldn't understand, everything seemed to be simpler. I would talk with Spen and Jin and figure out what we plan to do afterwords. Maybe chat with Betters and tell him I plan to do something else with my life. But not this. I didn't want things to turn out like this. Now, I don't know which life will be more worth it. The one I can no longer remember, or the one to where I found out what I really am... A monster.

Walking through the area, I stopped to see three of those Replica Elites near some steps. I almost brought my pistol out, except they weren't doing anything. They were just standing there, their heads looking down at the ground. Were they dead? Did killing Fettel take away their programming?  
>I walked up to one of them to see that he was still breathing, but that was it. With no psychic to give them further orders, their minds were no longer their own. I guess that it means the Replica Army is no longer a threat. Just to make sure, I pushed the first one in front of me to see if he would do anything. He simply fell to the floor, releasing his grip on the MP-50 Cannon. Doing the same to the other two, they did nothing as well to defend themselves as their bodies fell to the ground. This was just weird.<p>

Well, at least that's one crisis averted. Their weapons would just be too big for me to take, and its not like I'm going to be fighting them anymore. Passing through the area, I stopped to see a black laptop on a desk nearby. There was a video message left behind by Harlan. I clicked the "play" option to see what he had to say. From this recording, it doesn't seem like that long ago to when he made this. He seemed to be talking about Alma, describing some early portions of her life. He was standing in some kind of office, pacing back and forth.

"She was a very disturbed child. Terrible, debilitating nightmares. Hallucinations, hysteria... She never had a chance at a normal life."

I don't know if this message might be for me or someone else, but at this point Harlan might not have cared to who it was for. Maybe it was his way of a "confession" for what he and ATC have done. To think that my... "mother" had such a hard life growing up. All those bastards wanted was just to experiment on her, like some freaking guinea pig. Harlan still continued on about Alma.

"It was Disler who realized she was telepathic. He speculated that she was extremely sensitive to the negative emotions of people around her."

That meant Disler had more influence in this operation then I originally thought. I'm not sure what became of him, but considering how everyone else is dead, he might be too. As for Alma's emotions, I guess I can understand to where her anger and depression came from. All those scientists working on her body to force her to make two children for the sake of psychic potential would be hard to face every single day of her life. She didn't deserve all this. Harlan sat down on a chair as he brought his down, his fingers rubbing his forehead. Did he feel regret about all this?

"We removed her from that chamber only twice. She was fifteen when the first prototype was born... She was supposed to be comatose, but she started screaming when we induced labor and didn't stop until the liquid filled her lungs."

Oh my God... She wasn't even an adult when I was born. Maybe the pain of releasing me from her womb was too much for her to bear, probably because of her powers. Fettel was right. She literally was going towards one nightmare and getting deeper into another. Harlan was now shown to be putting his arm up by the wall with his back turned towards the camera.

"There are plausible scientific explanations for everything that followed, but I think it was really just a question of hatred."

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to sympathize for either Wade or Alma. Each one has down horrible things. Harlan for creating us, and Alma for exacting her revenge on anyone possible. However, for my mother, it was easy for my empathy to be attached towards Alma for everything that has happened to her. I guess I can understand why her sadness and despair has grown to hate and wrath. Harlan looked over to the side and began to walk over to something. The last thing he said before leaving left me shocked.

"It is the way of men to make monsters... and it is the nature of monsters to destroy their makers."

Wait, what does he mean by that? He's not seriously planning on releasing her, is he! Oh shit, I've got to stop him! He has no idea the damage caused by Alma would be beyond our imaginations!

I ran forward through the next corner to where I ended up in the lift I saw earlier. I pressed "activate" on the switch as the device started to ascend. I could hear the automated female computer say "System analysis commencing." as a arm-like mechanism went towards the top of the gigantic sphere. When I reached the top, I ran over towards the door nearby to see Harlan working on a computer in the center. It looked like he was activating the release mechanism for Alma's "coffin." He must've noticed I was standing there, for he began to speak to me.

"They want to destroy her, but I think she's suffered enough."

I tried to open the door as best I could, but to no avail. That bastard locked it from the other side. Punching the glass did no good, for it was heavily reinforced. I saw the mechanism pull out a human-sized tube from the containment sphere. I couldn't see Alma inside, for the smoke emitting from the pod completely covered it. I kept on pushing harder and harder to break into the room, with my efforts in vain. He has to stop now, or else everyone is going to die! Wade kept ignoring my actions as he spoke to me once again.

"We put her in there two days before her eighth birthday..."

He was saying all this with an almost dead tone in his voice. Does he not realize what he is trying to accomplish? Does he not understand that his very daughter has been killed? That everything going on will be caused because of him! Dammit, this is so messed up!

The pod was being brought on over towards the roof of this place. As it made its way over here, the computer voice said "Error. No life signs detected." That was a fucking lie. I could feel something powerful inside of there. Something full of anger and hate. Something dark... Harlan spoke again, still rambling about Alma some more.

"She died six days after we pulled the plug."

The pod was now entering into the chamber along the corner of the wall. The computer then said "Release sequence complete." I wasn't sure how, but I could feel the magnitude of Alma's powers suddenly burst through from the next room. I was too late to stop this. Alma would be released, and there is nothing I can do. As the chamber doors inside the room were beginning to open, Harlan looked into it as he said one last thing to me.

"This is how it ends."

The chambers opened up as smoke came out of the pod. Harlan stepped back as he looked on in wonder. His last words before he started to scream and his flesh disintegrating were that of the person who would take away his life.

"Alma..."

She was leaving the chamber. She was free. My "mother" walked towards where Harlan's withering body was as blood splattered all across the window in front of me. My sight flashed white.

* * *

><p>"Kill them."<p>

She was walking towards me. We were back at that building. I was now on the ground, my body frozen in place. Her adult form was slowly approaching me. She had no clothes on, the majority of her skin filthy and dead. It was literally like watching a corpse coming over to kill me. The light inside was flickering back and forth uncontrollably. Alma reverted back and forth from her child appearance to her naked, adult form.

"Kill them all."

She wants me to help her with her pain. My mother wants me to kill everyone. I... I can't...

Alma then crouched down suddenly to the floor, crawling over as fast as possible to me like a spider.

* * *

><p>I was back at the facility. The door opened up on its own as I saw the carnage Alma left in her wake. Harlan Wade's remains were all that was left of what happened. The entire room was dark, making it difficult to see. Footsteps covered in blood trailed off towards the exit of this room, with only one person I can think of who did this.<p>

I failed to stop this. I don't know how it can be possible for my entire life to turn around in not even 10 minutes of what has happened. Fettel, Alice, and Harlan are now dead. The walking corpse of Alma was now free to do whatever she pleased. What is it that I can do now...?

I then remembered what it was Norton Mapes had told me before I entered the Vault. He said something about destroying the reactor cells in this place. If I do that, then the entire facility will be destroyed. If this place is gone, then maybe Alma can still be contained in here as the entire base explodes. Screw exposing ATC for their evil deeds, this entire place has to be destroyed. No ifs, ands, or buts.

I exited this bloody room to figure out how it is I plan to blow those reactor cells up. My explosives were gone, and the only weapon I had available was my gun. I guess once I get to that part, I'll have to improvise. As I went through another door past the turning hallway, I was now in some kind of laboratory. To the far right, I saw the adult form of Alma walk slowly away from where I was. I'm not sure if she realizes what I intend to do or not. But I do have to stop her from leaving this place. Or at least get rid of this entire facility.

Slowly, I walked over to where I last saw her. She was now gone, but I could still feel something strong in the air. Before I could make sense of it, I was now somewhere else.

* * *

><p>I was back at the area full of darkness and flames. The screams of monsters caught my attention as I looked behind me. The Nightmares were slowly converging to my position. Despite how many bullets I fired, more and more kept spawning off from the nothingness of this realm. Unlike last time, I quickly went back to where I was before.<p>

* * *

><p>I don't know what it was that keeps switching me back and forth between the multiple "realms" of Alma's thoughts and the real world. But right now, that had to be put on hold. Glass broke next to me by a cabinet with the air becoming thicker. There were black spots "opening" several feet in front of me as I could feel something was coming.<p>

5 of those Nightmares were slowly coming towards me. My God, these things were now coming over into reality! Alma is now able to bring in her apparitions from the darkest portions of her mind!

Quickly, I fired several bullets towards each of them before they could get any closer. They each took one bullet as their bodies dispersed into nothing. All it would take is one strike from them touching me to kill me. If Alma is seriously able to make these things come to life, then who knows what else she can produce from her mind. Exiting the room with an electrical door along the back wall, Continuing further in this place past some supplies and carriers, I stopped when I was just about to pass a wall with some thick glass. Four more of those black holes opened up in room ahead of me as multiple Nightmares were approaching me. I emptied all the bullets out of my pistol as I managed to fend off these monsters.

Moving on, I walked slowly through some small rooms and halls until I found another entrance to a much bigger room. Sure enough, multiple holes surfaced into the air as seven more of the Nightmares came into existence. I fired some more bullets towards the freakish creatures until none were left. As long as I can keep my distance from these things, then shooting them from a distance is fine with me. However, I only had two more magazines left after this one to reload my pistol. Unless I find another weapon, I'm not going to have anything left to counter these creations of Alma's psychic powers.

Entering the next room, I turned left past some crates down the next hall. When I reached the next area, I knew where I was at. There were four humongous reactors placed along the ceiling of this gigantic area. Several feet underneath the reactors were small conductors with some energy flowing through them. If I can open up the underside of each of these reactors, the power cells will be exposed. And from here, I can blast them enough times with my weapon for them to be destroyed. Hopefully, doing so will destroy this place completely. Hopefully...

I walked along the railings here and circled the area until I saw a lift in the back corner of this place. Going up, I passed through hallway after hallway, with multiple barrels and supercomputers laid out all over the place. By the time to where I got near a control panel, I saw a spare RPL machine gun placed along top a white crate. At least I'll have some spare bullets here. Standing in front of the activation switch, I pressed it to see the giant reactors raise up further towards the ceiling. After they did so, each of them ejected four round cylinders with red lines underneath them all. Already figuring what I have to do, I opened fire with my SMG into one of them as it soon exploded. Doing the same to the other three, they were soon destroyed as all the power in this place went off. Did it work?

Suddenly, the entire facility shook up as a huge outburst of energy flew out from the bottom of this shaft. Whatever I did, I'm not sure what happens next I do not want to be at. If Mapes is right, it will cause a chain reaction to where I will have enough time to leave this place. An alarm system went off as the entire place got dark. The sirens flashed red and yellow back and forth as emergency power went on to the door behind me. If I follow this path, hopefully it will lead me to an exit.

I ran as fast as my legs could take, trying to keep my balance from the frequent shaking of this place. Rushing over to a round metal walkway, there was a path along the right at the next corridor I could take. Before I did, more of those floating "people" came out from nowhere as they blocked off my exit. Several more were coming from a wall along the right of me, leaving me trapped. I fired multiple rounds of my SMG towards the creatures until none were left.

With the path available once again, I quickly sprinted through room after room, being extra careful that no more Nightmares were spawning nearby. As I turned around the next corner to another walkway, I saw someone walking away slowly from the next corridor. It was Alma. Is she trying to leave this place too? Carefully, I walked over to where I last saw here to find that she was no longer this way. Instead, the path before me led me towards a huge cargo lift. It looked almost the same kind I used to come down here, which probably means it was for another entry point in the facility. Wherever this thing takes me, it's better than here.

As I sprinted over there, I saw an energy surge suddenly manifest itself far below the shaft near the railing under the lift. I'm guessing that after I destroyed the reactor cells that the power is just randomly bursting from different parts of the facility, finding ways to get out on its own. When I reached the lift, I pressed the switch on the panel nearby with the large elevator now ascending upwards. As I made it to the tops, the doors opened up similar to that of the Vault. There was only path on the balcony in this huge shaft I could take towards some reinforced doors. If I can open those, I can leave this place...

...But easier said than done. Before I reached there, more black holes opened up several feet in front of me. Wave after wave of Nightmares were coming to life to stop me from leaving this hellish place. Opening fire at the creatures, the bullets pierced through their flesh easily as they all eventually withered into smoke. After they were gone, I ran over to the doors as they began to open up. There was another elevator placed here that if I go up, it will take me away from this ungodly place.

Just as I got on it, I looked behind me to see some more holes in reality torn apart as it looked like more Nightmares would come here. As I was about to raise my weapon, the reinforced doors then closed in front of me. With the elevator now going up, I was pretty sure that this things will definitely not be able to "float" through the walls. Looking up, I saw that it would be a minute or so until I reach wherever this thing takes me.

Now, it was time for this "monster" to leave the ghosts of its past behind... for good.

* * *

><p>And that... is that. I hope I managed to not disappoint. 2 more chapters to go!<p> 


	21. Ground Zero

Alright, folks. This here is the 2nd to last chapter of the novelization. The next one is gonna be really short, in line with how short the actual epilogue was so I'm gonna upload that as soon as I can. So I guess I'm technically saying that I'm done with this, so I hope you enjoy my last strong chapter.

=O

* * *

><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**INTERVAL 11 - RETALIATION  
><strong>

**GROUND ZERO  
><strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>The "Point Man"<strong>_  
>On the way up, my mind was still rattled with what has happened. The little girl, Alma, that has been harassing me since this mission started was the child form of a mother I didn't know I still had. The cannibal, Paxton Fettel, who was controlling an army of clones was my younger brother. As for myself... I was a product of Project Origin created by man to recreate the psychic potential of a very, very pissed off woman. These "reflexes" I thought I had gained from hard work and determination was just manufactured into my DNA to be an unstoppable killer.<p>

I also wondered how much of my life may have been played with by Armacham. With no memory of my early years, what could they have done to me? Did they artificially mess with my brain as I grew up? Put me in the military for me to handle any trouble they would get involved with, like with Fettel? How much of my life is my own...?

"He's alive! I just picked up his signal!"

I was thrown out of my confusion by hearing someone talking over the comlink. It was Betters! I guess I must be far enough above the facility to get their signal back. It sounded like he was excited to pick up my life signs over the satellite F.E.A.R. has been using.

"If you can hear me, get to high ground. A chopper is standing by."

They must already know that the Replica forces have been deactivated. If I can figure out where to get an extraction from one of our Black Hawks, then I should be able to leave this place. As for what I'll do after that... well, I should probably leave this place first and then figure it out.

Where I was at now, the lift stopped in some kind of warehouse. It looked very similar to the Rammelmeier compound, only the interior was a bit different. This room looked like the armory to where I had first fought the Replica Elites, only much simpler. Looking around, there was a secret door already opened up that was camouflaged as a wall. Beyond it was a back room which I'm assuming is supposed to look like a typical warehouse.

Moving on, the entire place was still shaking from the outburst of the power cells being destroyed. A pipe blew off from the wall along the right, fire spreading out and blocking a nearby door. This place might be coming down, too. Going down the corridor down the left side, I turned around the corner when I saw another explosion go off in front of me. Another pipe broke as more fire blocked off the path in front of me. To the left side of it was a small ledge near some steps I could take as a detour.

After making my way up the steps, there was another intersection to where I had to figure out where to go. Suddenly, a small explosion went off with another pipe causing flames to emit from it. I would've ignored it, if I didn't hear strange noises coming from behind the blast. Next thing I knew, more of those "Nightmares" were surfacing from the middle of the air as they were now flying towards me. I panicked and fire several more rounds of my SMG to them until there was no more. And just when I thought I wouldn't face these things again...

Looking back behind me, I saw a large, dark room completely covered with boxes everywhere. I slowly made my way through the maze-like set-up, hoping that more of these things wouldn't just pop out of the corner. I then heard some noise coming from outside as I looked out the filthy windows. It was definitely a Black Hawk, as the chopper was flying off towards the east. They're probably trying to find a good LZ to pick me up. I'll going to have to pick up the pace if I want to get out of here.

Moving through the path full of boxes, I finally found an exit to another section of the building with tall rows of cabinets. As I was about to walk over there, I could hear some unusual noises behind me. Turning around, more portals opened up from two different spots as some more Nightmares were spawning from them. I fired the remaining bullets of my SMG towards them until none were left. Reloading my current weapon, I started to hope that I have enough bullets to fend off these things until I can get picked up by the chopper.

As I headed inside the next room, an explosion blew off behind me to were all the boxes were. The Nightmares were spawning from the black dust as it made hard to see where they were coming from. I backed up a bit and waited for them to funnel themselves into this tight space and then opened fire towards them. It's a good thing these things aren't too smart, for their intent to kill made them easy targets to pick off when all they do is charge at me.

After they were gone, I went back towards another corner nearby. Passing it, I saw some double doors closed in front of me that I could take. Just as I was about to walk up to them, a flash of white covered my eyes for a split second. When I looked back at the doors, they burst open as three more Nightmares were floating towards me. With how close it was, it was amazing that I reacted quick enough to fire as many bullets towards them as I could. Seeing them explode into smoke, I stopped firing and relaxed for a bit to calm my nerves.

Entering the next area, I went down some steps to the right and saw I was in another storage area. Moving through the tall cabinets, another set of portals opened up at the far end of this place. Four more Nightmares came out as they were raising their arms to try and grab me. I didn't let them get the chance as I fired some more bullets off my submachine gun. After they dissipated into the air, I slowly went through the area and saw some broken stairs by the wall. A part of them wasn't completely finished, but it was enough for me to climb up to the next floor. Going down the corridor, I saw there was another hallway to the right of me. Just as I turned my head to see what was there, more Nightmares were waiting for me as they were flying faster towards my position.

I emptied the submachine gun as I managed to "kill" the floating monstrosities before they could get to me. I noticed that there was a spare SMG available lying against the wall from the beasts were hiding. Taking that and tossing the empty weapon, I continued back to the previous hallway and walked through a metal walkway. With the next room almost exactly the same in terms of layout, I expected another ambush by those monsters. Looking down the hallway to the right, I saw that the only thing there was a set of double doors completely boarded up. With that way blocked, I walked further down the hall into the following room.

This place was a mess. A whole collection of cabinets were tipped over as well as some dirty chairs piled up in the corner of this room. On a table, however, was a spare HV Penetrator laying on a table. Holstering the SMG, I picked up the HV as this thing will be helpful for any accurate shots I can make in case if any more of those things show up. Moving on to the next room, there was a metal fencing area to the right pass some old generators. As I was walking through the machine, the building shook some more as steam was blowing off from it.

Passing through the hot steam, I walked up the set of stairs to the upper level. There was some spare ammo for my handgun lying on a cabinet near some hammers and buckets. Picking it all up, I stacked them all across my belt for later use. After grabbing all these weapons and ammo, I would probably be a bit more paranoid that I am going to use all them all. I just hope that's not the case. Moving through the corridors here, I was now on a metal walkway above a large, empty warehouse. The door in front of me was locked. That means the only out of here is go down and see where I can go.

Just as I hopped down to the ground below, a flash of white covered my eyes. When my sight returned, I saw about 5-6 black holes open up at the far end of the room ahead of me. Several Nightmares were being produced as they all began to swarm my position. I brought out the Penetrator and fired several nails to each one of them coming. Even after killing several of them one after another, more began to surface in their place. No matter how hard I tried, they just kept coming. After emptying the HV, I took back out the SMG and opened fire. Even after firing all the bullets inside the gun, waves of Nightmares were still coming from those black holes. When my SMG was empty, I dropped it to the ground and pulled out my pistol as a last resort. I was going to die... These things are going to kill me... Is this the end of me...?

Just as I was about to run out, the Nightmares then stopped spawning. Suddenly, wooden boards flew up from the floor all around me as they broke apart and hit the ceiling. Not sure what this was supposed to mean, I looked around to see that there were no more of those creatures. Maybe I managed to get rid of them all? Wishful thinking can only go so far.

Seeing where the destroyed 2x4s flew off from, there was a dark passageway underneath the floor. As much as I knew going down there would be a bad idea, there wasn't any other exit in this warehouse for me to take. Turning on my flashlight, I jumped down in there to see that it was tall enough for me to walk around in. As I turned the next corner, I saw a tight hallway at the far end of this open space. As I began to walk there, more wooden boards flew off from the left as they nearly hit me. Two more Nightmares were coming out from some enclosed spaces that the boards were covering.

Using my pistol, I only fired a couple shots at them when they dissipated into the air. Heading back through the tight corridor, another portal opened up with some more of those creatures coming. Unlike before, these things were floating towards me much faster than the others. All I could do was fire as quickly from my gun as possible until they were all destroyed. Reloading my handgun, I went pass where they came from and entered another long hallway around the next corner as it turned to the left.

This was something here. Even with the few lights working down here and my flashlight still on, it was still too dark to see what was on the other side. Something powerful was here. My eyes were covered in darkness once more as I was not sure where I was at anymore. A voice echoed into my head.

"I've tried to forget."

* * *

><p>"I've tried so hard to forget."<p>

I recognize the voice now. It was that of Chuck Habegger, one of the scientists who was involved with Project Origin. That's who I heard back at that abandoned building, to where we were first looking for Fettel. That was his voice I was hearing way back then. Even after he was dead, my mind was still able to hear what may have been his last words to Fettel. He knew about us... about Alma.

I was back at the burning building that has been haunting me. Just as I had opened, a loud scream came from the left side of this place. The naked, corpse-like form of Alma was slowly walking towards me. I could feel her psychic powers. She stretched out her arms to grab me as I could feel killing intent coming from her. If she grabs me, then I will surely die from her touch. Raising the pistol I was still carrying, I fired a few bullets to her chest. A flash of white covered my eyes as she was now gone.

I could feel something calling out to me from the next room. Even with the flames surrounding me, I did not care about them. I have to know what the meaning of all this is supposed to be. Moving through the familiar building, I tried to understand. Tried to reason what it is about this place that feels so familiar...

As I opened the next set of doors above the small set of stairs, Alma suddenly manifested a few feet in front of me. To defend myself from her lethal touch, I opened fire at my "mother" several times until she disappeared again. I won't let her anger kill me! I won't! I have to live! To find out why this is happening to me!

Turning towards the steps in front of me, I went to the left as I was back at the long hallway from before. I'm almost there. As I began to walk slowly through this place, my sight once again flashed to white. When I could see again, I was now in front of the two doors. The path was shortened. I will soon arrive to the answers. Before I could push open the two doors, Habegger's voice echoed once again in my head as I remembered hearing these words.

"You were born here. In this place."

This place... I remember this place now! This is the building to where Alma had given birth to me. And that wasn't it, either. That abandoned building, the one to where Fettel was at for the first time and Betters sent me to investigate... It was this place. The fires, the blood, the creatures... The place I am at right now is the darkest portions of Alma's mind to when she was in labor. The reason I keep going here in these "hallucinations" were because she wants me to see what had happened... what happened after I was born.

I pushed the doors in front of me as they slowly revealed the next hall. At the far end, I could see someone standing by the two doors to where the windows showed his figure. As I got closer and closer, the sounds of me crying as a newborn heard up ahead, Chuck's voice rang inside my head.

"I was there."

Chuck was there the day I was born. He was there in the delivery room to when she was in labor. That's why Fettel first targeted him. It was because he knew the names of everyone that was a part of Project Origin.. Chuck couldn't forget now matter how hard he tried, to ease his guilt of being involved.

I walked over to the two doors to see Chuck nervously looking away from an empty operating table. Alma's adult form walked over to him as he just stood there. As she got close enough, Chuck screamed as loud as possible as his body exploded, blood completely covering the windows. Seeing all of this, this was probably what Alma intended for him, sending Fettel to kill him first.

Another flash of white covered my eyes. As my sight returned, I could feel something dangerous behind me approaching. Looking back at the long hallway, I saw Alma slowly walking towards me from the other end. Her killing intent was stronger than ever, her powers still increasing. Just one touch is all she needs to take her sons life. I brought my weapon up again as I fired as many bullets as I can towards her. When she disappeared again, she reappeared just a few feet in front of me. I wasn't sure if there was anything left in my throat to scream, but I felt like yelling as loud as possible. I kept shooting and shooting at her as she still got closer. Her blood was spilt several times as she still kept getting closer. She is going to kill me... her own son. Does she not realize that? I have to defend myself! To kill!

She was gone again. All of the bullets in my gone were empty. Even with nothing left in the chamber, I still kept pulling the trigger as though she was still there. My body was still shaking, consumed in fear. What's happening to me? My mother's voice whispered to my ears as she told me:

"My baby... Give him back to me..."

* * *

><p>"Give me back my baby!"<p>

I could see someone holding me. My eyes were barely open as someone was bringing me towards the figure of Harlan Wade. He was holding me with his bare hands, wearing a white lab coat. Could this be from the day I was born? What is Alma trying to show me now? Harlan looked down at me and said:

"You will be a god among men."

A god...? I was created by him to be like a god to him?

"Take her back the Vault." Harlan said as he looked over at someone in the room.

The next thing I saw was a young teenage girl lying down on an table, with a strong beaming light pointed towards her. She got up as she tried to reach out to me.

"No!" she yelled as it echoed loudly into my head. They were taking me away from her... my mother.

As I was looking down, a folder was laid out on a table. There were several pieces of paper inside. But none of that mattered. What was on the front cover shocked me.

**TOP SECRET**

**ORIGIN**

**SUBJECT:**  
><strong>ALMA WADE<strong>

Alma... Wade? Then, this wasn't some random girl picked just to be used for experimentation. She was Harlan's daughter! He did all of this to his own flesh and blood! He made her give birth to both me and Fettel for Armacham's selfish desires... and showed no remorse until the very end when he let her out.

If Harlan is her father, then that means... He's both mine and Fettel's biological grandfather. And if Alice is also his daughter, then her and Alma are both sisters, too. And Alice never even knew about her younger sister, completely oblivious to the heinous acts her father has committed to all of us.

Everything he told me about saying how she has suffered enough... was he aware that letting her out would cause all this? Maybe he didn't want her in Armacham's hands again? Or perhaps he probably felt guilty about doing all that stuff to her when she was a child. It's too late to ask him now...

"My baby..."

* * *

><p>I was back at the dark hallway. Alma's presence was no longer felt anymore. She was gone. The last thing I could hear from her before she completely faded away was:<p>

"I know who you are."

Hearing her say that made me second guess what she tried to do earlier. She wasn't coming at me with killers intent. She didn't want to grab me and take away my life. There was only one reason.

She wanted to embrace the son she never got to hold in her life.

Right now, I don't feel anything once again. No sorrow, no guilt, no happiness, no resolve, no anger. I felt more empty than when I killed Fettel, but worse. This was some fucking cruel twist of fate. After everything I've done today, everything! That the thing that breaks my fighting spirit is not fighting a squad of Replicas, or facing ATC security, or even all those terrible illusions... The thing that breaks me down is that my entire family that I met for the first time that I can remember are now all dead. My grandfather, my mother, my brother, my aunt... They're all gone.

Using every strength available in my body, I slowly walked over to the set of doors at the far end of this hall. I have to leave... meet with the chopper. It's the only thing I can do for myself now. God knows how much time it will take before I can figure out what to do now for my life.

Opening the doors, I saw that there was a small elevator at the far end of this room beyond some construction equipment. Going over there, I went inside and pressed the switch to go up. Anywhere is fine, I don't care where this takes me. After a while, the lift stopped as I was now in a dark-blue room. The windows here were broken open, to which I can now hop over to head outside. The night seems to have passed, for the sky was now in the early morning. The sun is going to rise soon. Now to figure out where to go...

An explosion erupted underground along the street. Next thing I knew, a bright flash of light erupted far, far away from the center of this city. Shockwaves blew me back a bit as I something huge coming from the city. Smoke was getting bigger and bigger as more bursts were blowing away from there. As it all started to increase, I could see a big ball of fire erupt from the center of all this chaos. That's when I realized what was happening.

That chain reaction that started from the Origin facility grew much bigger than what it initially was. Instead of just blowing up the entire building, it spread out much bigger to the point to where the explosion would ensnare hundreds and hundreds of buildings. Mapes miscalculated as to how dangerous the blast would be!

Building parts and cars were flying everywhere as the devastating explosion got closer and closer. No matter where I go, there is nowhere to hide from it. And even if I could head inside a building, the force from the blast was too strong for me to go anywhere. The best thing I could do was stand on my own two feet in vain as I tried not to get blown away. It was getting closer. Soon, I could not longer stand up straight as I was blown back to a wooden fence. My back hurt so much from the sudden impact of hitting the hard boards.

As the explosion was just beginning to reach me, the fence gave away as I was blown back some more. My sight begins to fade from me as I was slipping onto a deep sleep. So this is how it ends. They were right. I'm not like everyone else... I'm a monster. I've lived this life doing nothing but kill people. It's only proper that my life were to be taken when I have nothing to kill. I deserve to die like a monster...

* * *

><p>Reviews would be nice so I can hear some feedback. All of you have been awesome to me. Maybe I can give some of that to the Point Man if I do another story for him :D<p> 


	22. Epilogue

Thanks to everyone for being so supportive of this story. Because of you guys, I managed to write something decent in my life :p I know that this chapter is short, but right now I am contemplating what to do for a next story. I hope I have satisfied everyone who enjoyed this. And once again, I do not own the material of the F.E.A.R. story, for that all belongs to Monolith Studios.

Time to finish this!

* * *

><p><strong>F.E.A.R.<strong>

**FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON**

**EPILOGUE  
><strong>

**AFTERMATH  
><strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>The "Point Man"<strong>_  
>Something is above me. My eyes slowly open to see what it could be. It was black, and it was making some loud noises. I can't feel my body anymore. Either I'm in so much pain for having the entire city blown up in front of me... or I am now dead.<p>

As my eyes began to recover some more, I could see that the black object coming to me was a helicopter. I wasn't sure who it belonged to, for it was too far for me to tell what kind it was. I could hear a voice of a woman talking into the radio still attached to my ear. It was Jin...

"There he is!" she said, possibly to the pilot as the chopper began to descend towards me. They came back for me. The pain overwhelms me as I return to sleep once more.

* * *

><p>I wake up again, now inside the helicopter. Douglas Holiday was sitting down on one of the seats as he looked at me. Jin Sun-Kwon was sitting beside me just a few feet in front of me as she saw me awaken. Both of them had lots of dirt covering their face and uniforms, probably from bringing me inside this chopper. We were now in the air, far above the city below. The side door of the helicopter was exposed to where I could see outside.<p>

The destruction caused by the explosion I started stretched out for miles. Smoke was risen as high to the clouds. We were so far away from there that it was almost impossible to think that it happened. I'm not sure if I should say that I'm lucky I'm still alive. I was still in a lot of pain. And I wish I could say that all of it was physical. After everything that's happened...

"I don't know how you lived through that..." Holiday told me as he was looking back outside. Neither do I, man. Neither do I...

"We still don't know the extent of the damage." he said as he and Jin continued to look out at the epicenter of the explosion. God knows what's going to happen because of this.

"We haven't been able to get through to anyone since the explosion." Jin said out loud. If I could move my arms, I would try and check to see if it was still possible to contact HQ.

Jin then looked at both me and Holiday as she asked two questions that truly got my attention.

"What about Alma? What happened to her?"

My mother is...

...

Alma is gone now. What was left of her died in her childhood. All that remained after that was nothing but fury and sorrow. Hopefully, she may now rest in peace. She deservea it...

Something had hit the side of the chopper as it rocked a bit. We all looked around to see what it was that could've caused it. Jin asked "What was that sound?" as I was unsure what to make of it. Then I saw an arm enter the inside of the helicopter. It brought its head up to look at me with those soulless eyes.

Alma is still alive.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Genevieve Aristide<strong>_  
>What a mess. Harlan sure started a lot of shit for not listening to me. And now the bastard goes off and dies because of it. May he rest in peace, if possible. I pick up the telephone to call and contact the Senator about what has happened. Hopefully he's not too upset. After a few rings, he then picks up the phone. I first start the conversation by saying:<p>

"Senator, it's Genevieve Aristide. I just wanted to assure you that Origin situation has been resolved." I told him with my calm, collected voice.

"But so much for discretion..." he said a little frustrated. Well, I guess he is a little upset. Good thing I know just to thing to cheer him up.

"It was unavoidable. There is some good news, however. The first prototype was a complete success." I say to the powerful figure. He did sound to be in a better mood.

I can't wait to tell him all about my idea on how to handle the crisis. "Project Harbinger" is sure to work.

* * *

><p>Once again, thank you everyone for everything! As for any possible sequels, I might be considering either doing another novelization of the expansion pack, Extraction Point, or the next numbered title, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. If anything else, I may want to do a POV story of all the following characters in this game to explain a story through their perspectives. Inbox me or review this chapter so I may think about what I might do next. Have a great day! :)<p> 


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